A former New York police officer has agreed to serve five years for perjury rather than face a fourth trial in a notorious case of police torture involving a Haitian immigrant.
Charles Schwarz was sentenced last night in a plea deal which saw prosecutors drop two more serious charges of violating the rights of the immigrant, Abner Louima, who was beaten and sodomised with a broom handle in 1997.
The deal was brokered on the eve of what would have been Schwarz's fourth trial in the Louima case.
Two original convictions were overturned on appeal in July and at the third trial in July, the jury found Schwarz guilty of perjury in a previous trial but could not reach a verdict on the more serious charges.
State prosecutors, who had initially vowed to pursue a fourth trial with all charges included, rejected suggestions that the plea deal was a climb down.
"This resolution brings about a serious and significant punishment for Mr. Schwarz's role in the events surrounding this case and closure after many years of protracted and hard-fought litigation," chief prosecutor Alan Vinegrad told reporters after the sentencing.
The ferocity of the assault on Louima left him with severe internal injuries and sparked angry demonstrations against police brutality.
Schwarz was charged with restraining Louima on the floor of a police station bathroom, while another officer, Justin Volpe, forced a broken broomstick into the victim's rectum.
Schwarz has always maintained his innocence, saying he was the victim of mistaken identity. Volpe, who pleaded guilty to the assault, is serving a 30-year prison term.
AFP