Exclusive: Miami Police Officers Fired After Investigation
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Two Miami Police officers are out of a job. They were fired after a State Attorney's Office investigation, though they were not charged with a crime.
Miami police officer Alfredo Matias had to turn in his badge, his gun and his duty to serve and protect the people of Miami.
He and a fellow officer in the Department's Crime Suppression Unit, Luis Valdes were fired at headquarters Thursday morning.
The firings come months after the Miami-Dade State Attorney's office filed a closeout memo showing they would not prosecute either officer for allegedly falsifying police reports.
But the memo concluded saying "The matter will be handled administratively by the City of Miami Police Department."
Criminal defense attorney and former police officer Richard Diaz is thrilled about the firings.
CLICK HERE to watch Natalia Zea's report
"At the very least, they have been terminated so we don't have to worry about these two officers ever again working on the streets of City of Miami Police Department arresting people with false allegations," Diaz told CBS4's Natalia Zea.
Diaz said the firings are a result of his investigation into the officers on behalf of his client, the fired officers' former unit Sergeant, Raul Iglesias.
Iglesias is serving a four-year federal prison sentence convicted of planting guns and drugs on suspects.
Matias and Valdes cooperated in the investigation against him and Valdes testified.
Diaz contends the officers conspired to set up Sgt. Iglesias when he discovered they were falsifying police reports to illegally protect confidential sources, something Diaz said many officers do. He also said they were angry he was planning to move Matias and Valdes out of the prestigious Crime Suppression Unit.
"Our position today and always has been during the trial, even though the jury did not agree with it, is that (Iglesias) was on the brink of uncovering what we have here today," said Diaz.
Two other officers from the same unit resigned during the State Attorney's Office investigation.
Zea reached out to the police union which represents all of the officers. The union had no comment on the firings or the resignations.
Diaz said the firing of Matias and Valdes has given him enough to file a motion for a new trial for Iglesias.
No one from the Miami Police Department would go on camera about the firings, and wouldn't comment at all except to say these officers were fired Thursday morning and that this was an administrative issue. They said, at this point, there is no criminal investigation ongoing.
