DETROIT – Former Detroit police officer, Deonne Dotson, was sentenced Tuesday to more than 6 years in federal prison after being convicted of extortion, announced Acting United States Attorney, Saima Mohsin.
Dotson, 49, was convicted after an 8-day jury trial before United States District Judge Robert H. Cleland.
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The trial was conducted in November 2019, but Dotson’s sentencing was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the evidence presented at trial, Dotson accepted bribes from owners and operators of auto collision shops in exchange for referring stolen and abandoned vehicles recovered in the City of Detroit to their shops.
The evidence also showed that Dotson created false police reports in exchange for money from the owners and operators of the same collision shops.
Owners of the vehicles were unaware that Dotson was being paid by the collision shops when they agreed to have their cars fixed by the collision shops.
Five other Detroit police officers pleaded guilty and served time in federal prison for committing similar crimes while they were with the Detroit Police Department.
All six officers were actively employed with the department at the time of the offenses.
The other five officers were: Charles Wills, James Robertson, Jamil Martin, Martin Tutt, and Anthony Careathers.
All of the officers were charged with engaging in extortion for using their official positions as officers to refer cars to certain collision shops in exchange for cash payments.
“The overwhelming majority of Detroit police officers are honest, hard-working, and superb public servants,” said Mohsin.
“Dotson’s conviction and 80 months sentence shows that no one is above the law, and when police officers commit crimes and violate their oath to protect and serve the public, they will be held accountable.”