9-12-2022 2:09pm

Six Paterson Police Officers Sentenced to Prison for Violating Civil Rights, Filing False Reports

Chris Connors Editor

There’s a problem in Paterson, NJ.

Six Paterson, NJ Police Officers were sentenced to prison in the last four days for a string of charges relating to the violation of civil rights and filing false police reports.

On Thursday, September 8, of last week, three Paterson, NJ, police officers were sentenced to a cumulative total of four years in prison and nine years’ probation after pleading guilty to conspiracy to violate individuals’ civil rights and filing a false police report.

Police Officer Jonathan Bustios, 33, of Paterson, NJ, was sentenced to 24 months in prison and three years supervised release, charging him with conspiracy to violate individuals’ civil rights and filing a false police report.

Police Officer Eudy Ramos, 35, of Paterson, was sentenced to 24 months in prison and three years supervised release, charging him with conspiracy to violate individuals’ civil rights and using unreasonable and excessive force.

Police Officer Matthew Torres, 33, of Paterson, was sentenced to three years of probation, charging him with conspiracy to violate individuals’ civil rights and filing a false report.

On Friday, September 9, of last week, two Paterson, NJ, police officers were sentenced to a cumulative total of 42 months in prison and six years’ probation after pleading guilty to conspiracy to violate individuals’ civil rights, using unreasonable and excessive force, and filing a false police report.

Police Officer Frank Toledo, 33, of Paterson, was sentenced to 24 months in prison, charging him with conspiracy to violate individuals’ civil rights, using unreasonable and excessive force, and filing a false police report.

Police Officer Daniel Pent, 35, of Paterson, New Jersey, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, charging him with conspiracy to violate individuals’ civil rights, using unreasonable and excessive force, and filing a false police report.

Then, today, Monday, September 12, a Paterson, NJ police sergeant was sentenced to 33 months in prison for conspiracy to violate civil rights and filing a false police report.

Police Sergeant Michael Cheff, 51, of Oakland, NJ was convicted on May 26, 2022, following a five-day Trial on one count of conspiracy to deprive persons of civil rights and one count of falsification of a police report.

According to documents filed in the above cases at their respective trials, Jonathan Bustios, Eudy Ramos, Matthew Torres, Frank Toledo, and Daniel Pent were police officers with the Paterson Police Department working under the supervision of Sergeant Cheff.

While on duty, Bustios, Ramos, Torres, Toledo, and Pent stopped and searched motor vehicles without justification, stealing items like cash and valuables from the drivers they stopped. They also illegally stopped and searched individuals in buildings or on the streets of Paterson and seized cash from them.

The five officers concealed their activities by submitting false police reports to Cheff omitting their fraudulent activities. Cheff signed off on those false reports and routinely received a portion of the stolen funds and valuables.

On November 14, 2017, Cheff joined Bustios, Ramos, and Torres in stealing cash from an apartment in Paterson after stopping and arresting an individual. Following the arrest, Cheff and the officers coerced the individual to sign a consent to search form, and while the individual was handcuffed in the police car, search the individual’s apartment.

Cheff and his fellow officers stole money and narcotics from a safe in the individual’s apartment, pocketing a significant portion of the cash and logging the remaining money and narcotics into evidence.

Cheff would later approve a false police report claiming the officers discovered only $319 from a top shelf of the individual’s room. It was later revealed, after corroboration from the victim, that approximately $2,700 was taken from the apartment.

All six of these prison sentences are connected to the same string of criminal activity within the Paterson Police Department.

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