Three Current and Former NYPD Officers Charged with Bribery

 

In Exchange for Bribes, Two NYPD Officers Steered Damaged Vehicles to a Tow Truck Company Operated by a Former NYPD Officer

 An indictment was unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn charging James Davneiro, Giancarlo Osma, and Michael Perri with one count of conspiracy to violate the Travel Act and one count of using interstate facilities to commit bribery.  During the relevant period, Davneiro, Osma, and Perri were New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) officers assigned to the 107th Precinct in Queens.  Perri retired from the NYPD in June 2020.

The defendants were arrested and are scheduled to be arraigned before United States Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom.

Jacquelyn M. Kasulis, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Michael J. Driscoll Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Dermot Shea, Commissioner, NYPD, announced the charges.

“As alleged in the indictment, these defendants disgraced their badges and betrayed the public trust and their oaths as police officers by lining their pockets with cash bribes,” stated Acting U. S. Attorney Kasulis.  “We will continue to root out and prosecute corruption by those who are sworn to enforce and uphold the law.”  Ms. Kasulis also thanked the National Insurance Crime Bureau for its assistance with the case.

“Accepting bribes as a law enforcement officer in lieu of following legal procedure is against the law and won't be tolerated. Those charged today aren't representative of the tens of thousands of men and women who serve the NYPD with honor day in and day out and, as such, will be held accountable for their alleged crime,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Driscoll.

“The NYPD cleans its own house. Corruption is a crime and a violation of a police officer’s sworn oath. This investigation is the third phase of an ongoing case where our Internal Affairs Bureau investigators left no stone unturned. I want to thank our FBI partners from the Public Corruption Unit, and the prosecutors of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York who have helped guide this case throughout,” stated NYPD Commissioner Shea.

Beginning in approximately May 2020, after Davneiro and Osma responded as NYPD officers to automobile accidents, they would steer the damaged vehicles to a licensed tow trucking and automobile repair business operated by Perri, instead of using the NYPD’s Directed Accident Response Program, as legally required. That program requires the NYPD to identify appropriate licensed tow trucking and automobile repair businesses to respond to automobile accident scenes and remove damaged vehicles.  In exchange for steering the removal and repair of damaged vehicles to Perri’s business, Perri paid Davneiro and Osma thousands of dollars in cash bribes.

The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.  If convicted, the defendants face up to five years in prison.