By Mark Hallum
A Queens Supreme Court judge has found an NYPD detective guilty of making a fake drug arrest involving two counts of perjury, two counts of official misconduct and one count of a written false statement in a criminal complaint.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said Detective Kevin Desormeau, 34, of Long Island, had arrested a man who he claimed to have seen selling crack cocaine to two women in Jamaica who were not apprehended and testified on multiple occasions to recovering illegal substances from the man.
But additional evidence was stacked against Desmorneau as surveillance footage was uncovered showing the victim playing pool inside a restaurant during the time the arrest was said to have taken place between 6:40 p.m. and 7 p.m. Aug. 28, 2014, the DA said.
“As a result of his testimony, the victim was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on charges of criminal sale of a controlled substance and held at Rikers Island in lieu of bail,” the Queens DA’s office said. “Following the victim making bail and being released from jail, his attorney presented surveillance video to the district attorney’s office.”
The DA said the surveillance video, taken inside a restaurant and bar on Guy R. Boulevard, showed the victim, who had been arrested by detectives, playing pool at the exact same time the drug transaction was supposedly taking place
“The surveillance video also showed the detective enter the restaurant and bar while the victim was inside playing pool and then escorting him outside,” the office said.
The detective claimed the man was arrested for selling crack cocaine on 108th Avenue and Guy R. Brewer Boulevard and Desmorneau testified twice in 2015, once in January and once in November, against the victim and falsely stated he had witnessed the transaction in a criminal complaint.
According to Brown, the victim’s drug charges were dropped as a result of the investigation by NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau Group 41.
Brown said Desmorneau was covicted in a week-and-a-half-long jury trial before Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise and faces up to seven years behind bars upon sentencing on March 21.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhall
