DRUGS COP SENTENCED

A former New York Police Department narcotics detective caught
stealing money from drug dealers in Washington Heights was given a
relatively light 6-year federal prison sentence yesterday after he
admitted that greed and arrogance drove him to lawlessness.

Julio Vasquez, 46, choked up as he told Brooklyn federal Judge Carol
Amon that he had disgraced himself and his family by robbing more
than $740,000 from drug dealers over eight years.

"There is no excuse for it, absolutely no excuse for it," said
Vasquez, who dabbed his eyes with a tissue as he spoke.

Vasquez had faced from 17 years, 6 months to almost 22 years, under
federal sentencing guidelines. But because he cooperated with
investigators, Brooklyn federal prosecutors filed a special letter
with the court that allowed Amon to take the step of going well below
the minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years. Four other former NYPD
cops, including Vasquez's cohort Thomas Rachko, pleaded guilty in the case.

Vasquez was arrested in late 2003 after federal agents assigned to
the Eldorado Task Force, which investigates narcotics and money
laundering, spotted him and Rachko confronting a suspected drug
dealer and then taking a satchel believed to contain cash. The agents
were preparing to move in and nab the dealer but aborted the
operation when Vasquez and Rachko appeared.

A subsequent investigation revealed that Vasquez had been robbing
drug dealers for years. Vasquez immediately cooperated after his
arrest and led federal investigators to a $740,000 stash of cash that
he had collected over the years from ripping off narcotics
traffickers, said defense attorney Eric Franz.

"There is no excuse for his behavior, and he betrayed his oath as a
police officer," Franz said to Amon.

Amon said Vasquez, who resigned soon after his arrest, committed an
"extremely serious offense.

"He used that position [as a detective] to engage in very serious
activity, stealing money, stealing drugs," Amon said.

But Amon acknowledged that Vasquez, "from the moment he recognized he
was caught, was completely forthcoming about his behavior. ... He
hasn't tried to make excuses."

In sentencing Vasquez to 6 years in prison and not levying a fine,
Amon indicated that corrupt police officers had to be encouraged to
cooperate with authorities. She labeled Rachko, of the Bronx, who has
yet to be sentenced, as more of the ringleader in the scheme.

Amon also allowed Vasquez, who lives in Brooklyn with his wife, to
remain out on home detention and surrender to prison officials in
about eight weeks.