Their arrests are connected to a wider investigation into the East Cleveland Police Department for corruption.
Two former East Cleveland, Ohio, police officers were sentenced this week for stealing thousands of dollars from people they pulled over during traffic stops.
A judge ordered Willie Sims, 32, to two years in prison Thursday. His partner, Alfonzo Cole, 35, was sentenced Monday to 2 1/2 years in prison and was fined $40,000, court records show.
In total, Sims and Cole stole $14,781 from six victims between July 2020 and July 2021 while on duty, prosecutors said. Cole also swiped two firearms from the victims, the Cuyahoga County Office of the Prosecutor said in a news release.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Russo told Sims that his actions have “disgraced” hard-working officers.
FYI: This took place in East Cleveland, a separate city from Cleveland. It’s one of those city’s that you hear about where even the cops tell you not to stop at red lights at night. Except here the cops will then pull you over and rob you.
It’s on of those towns that is so corrupt and so delapitated there is really no hope for it. The city of Cleveland tried to annex it about 8 years ago to help restore it, but the city council put in all these weird stipulations to basically cement their power undemocratically and ensure they got lifetime paychecks to the point that eventually Cleveland had to walk away. This year, the Cleveland Metroparks, one of the best metropark systems in the country, tried to take over ownership of one of East Clevelands main parks to help bring it back from the brink, but again the East Cleveland leadership poisoned the pot so much the Metroparks had to walk too. Both of those things would have helped the residents immensely, but the local government just ruined it.
East Cleveland is an interesting place for sure. I have a client there and it’s definitely not in great shape. Their city government is definitely failing them in a big way, and they are also heavily impacted by the issue with suburbs in regards to tax revenue that much of metropolitan Cleveland has had to deal with. For those reading who aren’t up to speed on things, the city of Cleveland, by total landmass, is pretty small. Cuyahoga county itself is composed of 38 cities, 19 villages, and two townships which means that a lot of different areas grant themselves their own individual tax laws and guess what, they all feel like they are paying too much in taxes. So, they decide themselves that they get lower taxes, problem is, the tax revenue required has not actually decreased at all, in fact, by creating a new local government you have now increased the operating costs of your area. So really by having people move into these smaller suburbs you have really just created special groups of individuals who are wealthier, are a greater stress on county resources, and choose to pay less in taxes essentially bleeding the community dry. If you were to pull up a map of Cuyahoga county you will actually get a pretty good laugh. East Cleveland itself is the only outlier in this situation and it exists itself in a very complicated and sad situation that involves redlining, systemic racism, corporate greed and lack of regulation. Ironically its borders are surrounded by some of the wealthiest communities in the state.
Honestly the part that makes me the most upset about the situation is just how easy it is to solve.
