Two active NYPD officers, and one retiree, wound up being indicted on federal bribery charges Friday in connection with a kickback scheme tied to their assignments to a Queens precinct, law enforcement sources announced.
James Davneiro, 42, of Bayside, Queens, and Giancarlo Osma, 39, of Deer Park, Long Island, worked out of the 107th Precinct based in Flushing when they allegedly conspired with retired officer Michael Perri, 32, of East Islip, Long Island, to send victims of car collisions to Perri’s tow trucking and auto repair business.
Perri allegedly provided the officers with thousands of dollars in cash payments as compensation for their efforts, according to acting U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn M. Kasulis.
“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,” Kasulis said.
Prosecutors said Davneiro and Osma would respond to collisions within the 107th Precinct’s confines and direct drivers to use Perri’s business rather than businesses used by the NYPD’s Directed Accident Response Program, which identifies “appropriate licensed tow trucking and automobile repair businesses” to respond to such incidents.
Perri had retired from the NYPD in June 2020, about a month after the alleged kickback scheme began, federal prosecutors said.
Davneiro, Osma and Perri were charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Travel Act and one count of using interstate facilities to commit bribery. The counts are punishable by up to five years behind bars upon conviction.
Both Davneiro and Osma have been suspended from the NYPD without pay, law enforcement sources said.
“The NYPD cleans its own house,” Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said in a statement. “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.”
This story originally appeared on amNew York Metro.
