Detective Joseph E. Franco is a 19-
He worked in Manhattan's drug department for a year and arrested thousands of people.
His testimony sent many people to prison.
Including three New Yorkers, Detective Franco said he saw drug sales in 2017 and 2018 cases.
All three pleaded guilty.
The two were sent to state prison, where investigators from the Manhattan district attorney's office found the detective's account.
Submit arrest reports and repeat them to other officials, prosecutors and grand juries --
It's fake.
Detective Franco, who works in southern Manhattan on Wednesday, was charged with 16 criminal charges, including perjury and official misconduct.
Prosecutors say Detective Franco made up stories about innocent people buying drugs.
In court documents filed in the case, the prosecutor said that when investigators found that the video evidence was in conflict with the detective's statement, and after interviewing other arresting officials, his lies were untied.
Detective Franco, 46, pleaded not guilty to the charges Wednesday afternoon at the Manhattan State Supreme Court.
Judge Mark Dwyer released him without bail before his next session on June 28.
Detective Franco and his lawyer, Howard Tanner, declined to comment when they left the court.
Conviction of three people in Franco's investigation of drug trafficking
Julio irizari, Tamika Baker and Terrell Irwin
Justin Henry, spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. , said they had been thrown out and all three were no longer in state custodyVance Jr.
At a bail hearing on Wednesday, an assistant district attorney, Stephanie Milo, said the office was investigating at least two other cases involving Detective Franco, who might be asked more
Judge Dwyer declined her request and she asked for a cash bail of $50,000.
Detective Franco has now been suspended, police said. “Our N. Y. P. D.
The officers vowed to uphold the law and meet the highest ethical standards . "
O'Neal said in a statement.
"If an officer fails to meet these key expectations, they must be held accountable.
The prosecutor said.
Ilizari was the first detective to be accused of working as a plainclothes detective to claim he witnessed drug sales. Mr.
Prosecutors said in a court document that Irizarry was arrested on February 2017 when detectives said he saw him selling drugs in the lobby of a building on Delancey Street.
But video taken from security cameras in the building showed no such transactions.
In addition, the document states that the video from the security camera outside the building showed that Detective Franco had never entered the building, causing him to not see anything in the hall.
This pattern is repeated in two other times. Ms.
Baker was arrested on Madison Street in June 2017 because Detective Franco said he met her.
According to the document, Baker sells drugs in the foyer of a building.
However, investigators found that the security video showed
The document says Baker walked into the building without stopping in the foyer, and Detective Franco was not close enough to really see what she was doing.
April 2018, sir.
According to the document, Owen was arrested for Detective Franco saying he saw him give cocaine to a woman named Karen Miano, who later sold drugs to an undercover officer.
According to the document, "Once again, the video of the incident directly contradicts the version of the incident of the defendant . ".
"There is no drug deal between Sir. Irving and Ms. Miano. Instead, Ms.
Miano just opened the door for Mr.
Owen walked into the building and she walked out on her way to meet undercover.
"In each case, the accused repeated these lies and aggravated his misconduct ,"
Prosecutor Milo said in court.
The review of Detective Franco's case began last summer, when the staff of the district attorney noted a significant inconsistency between the detective's statement and the basic evidence in his case work, SirHenry said.
After the conviction of Mr. Irizarry, Ms. Burke and Mr.
Mr. Burrell, a lawyer for the district attorney's Conviction Integrity Program, transferred Detective Franco's case to the public corruption unit for investigation. Henry said. Ms. Baker and Mr.
Court documents said that when the evidence revealed that the detective's testimony in their case was false, irizari was serving his sentence.
The district prosecutor's office said in a statement that the case against Detective Franco was part of a continuing effort to eradicate and prosecute police corruption and misconduct.
"My office will continue to do its best to crack down on uniformed personnel who lie and undermine public trust in law enforcement, and we rely on law enforcement to secure New York," he said.
Vance said in a statement.
Ali Winston reports.