Former Miami-Dade Cop Begins Serving Prison Sentence
MIAMI - (CBS4) - One of the two former Miami-Dade police officers accused of stealing money from an informant turned himself in Wednesday to begin serving a 21 month sentence in state prison.
Daniel Fernandez had received his sentence on January 3rd, but because he suffers from prostate cancer the judge agreed to let him seek medical treatment before beginning his sentence in state prison.
His co-defendant Joe Losada was sentenced to 24 months in state prison, which he has begun serving.
Fernandez's tearful wife Carmen said she hopes prosecutors go after criminals in South Florida with the same fury as they have with her husband. Fernandez has always maintained his innocence and said that's why he took his case before a jury.
Both Fernandez and Losada were members of the Crime Suppression Team when they were arrested on January 12, 2006.They were arrested after allegedly stealing money from an informant, who was planted by investigators from internal affairs.
In September, a jury found Fernandez and Losada guilty on a portion of the nine charges they originally faced.
Losada was found guilty of official misconduct, criminal mischief, aggravated assault with a firearm, and battery.
His partner, Fernandez, was found guilty on September 8th, 2010 of only one charge -- burglary of an unoccupied dwelling. Both officers were found not guilty of false imprisonment and grand theft.
In November, defense attorneys had requested the judge rule on a mistrial following claims from the jury foreman that two of the jurors did not follow the letter of the law. But the judge ruled that there was not enough evidence to declare a mistrial.
The judge released Fernandez on a $20,000 bond in November for medical reasons. He will remain on house arrest with a GPS monitor and will be allowed to see his doctor and attorneys.
According to an arrest warrant, Losada, Fernandez and ''unknown officers'' fabricated facts around the arrests of two men, Rafael Rodriguez and Pedro Soler, in September 2005.
Rodriguez and Soler complained later to internal affairs investigators that Losada stole $7,000 in cash and a .22-caliber rifle.
The rifle was not on the list of items impounded during that arrest, authorities say.
After Losada and Fernandez were arrested in 2006, investigators found a rifle in Losada and Fernandez' police car that matched that description, according to police.
The officers' first brush with the wrong side of the law came January 12, 2006. They were arrested after allegedly stealing money from an informant, who was planted by investigators from internal affairs.
When Fernandez, a 15-year veteran, and Losada, on the force for nine years, entered a house in Northwest Miami-Dade, they found $970 in cash but turned in only $570, police say. The officers then improperly charged the informant and falsified the arrest report, according to police.
In addition, some of the marked money was found on one of the officers, according to court records. But the defense has said another officer who was not charged in the case owed them money and paid them with the marked bills.
