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Two Yonkers Police Officers Plead Guilty To Perjury, Misconduct

YONKERS, N.Y. -- Two former Yonkers police officers pleaded guilty to perjury on Thursday, according to Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore. 

Former Yonkers police officer Neil Vera

Former Yonkers police officer Neil Vera

Photo Credit: Westchester County District Attorney's Office
Yonkers Police Detective Christian Koch

Yonkers Police Detective Christian Koch

Photo Credit: Westchester County District Attorney's Office

Former Yonkers police officer Neil Vera pleaded guilty to one count of perjury in the second degree, a class E felony, two counts of official misconduct, class A misdemeanors.Yonkers police detective Christian Koch pled guilty to one count of perjury in the second degree, a class E felony.

Vera, a former Yonkers police department housing unit police officer who worked with Detective Koch, swore falsely on March 21, 2014, and the false statement was made in an application for a search warrant for “141 School Street, apt#3, Yonkers," according to the district attorney's office. 

The false statement was made with intent to mislead a Yonkers City Court Judge in the performance of his official functions signing the warrant, the district attorney's office said. 

Additionally, Vera asked a person identified to the Grand Jury to lie to investigators and provide a false written statement to police officers of the Internal Affairs Division of the City of Yonkers Police Department on May 20, 2014, according to the district attorney's office.

He asked that individual to make a false statement to the Yonkers Police Internal Affairs investigators identifying himself/herself as an individual who had performed controlled narcotics buys at 141 School Street in support of the search warrant, when in fact this was completely false, the DA's office said. 

"There is nothing more important than members of law enforcement acting with honesty and integrity," said District Attorney Janet DiFiore. "We place enormous trust in the work of police and when that trust is violated we will not hesitate to hold the individuals accountable, as we have in this case.”

The defendants surrendered to the Yonkers Police Department Internal Affairs Division. Sentencing for Vera will be on Thursday, May 28. Sentencing for Koch will be on Thursday, Sept. 10. They face a maximum of four years in prison.

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