A New York State Trooper was arrested on January 31 and facing charges for handing out at least 24 bogus tickets in Westchester County.
Edward Longo, 34, is charged with 32 felony counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree and eight misdemeanor counts of official misconduct.
Longo allegedly issued the tickets and supporting depositions without ever performing a traffic stop. The fraudulent tickets and depositions were submitted to the Troop K barracks located in Mount Pleasant, where he was assigned.
He carried out the fraud between May 10, 2021, and October 2, 2022. Some infractions he used for the false tickets were speeding, failure to signal, and seat belt violations, among others.
In March of last year, Longo ticketed a man supposedly driving on the Taconic State Parkway, but the man had died just hours earlier in a crash. The wife of 50-year-old Jurt Perez was shocked and appalled to learn of the officer’s ticketing ploy.
CBS News reports that court filings indicate Longo’s traffic enforcement fell below Troop K’s average. It’s believed that he began issuing fake tickets to avoid receiving a negative performance evaluation.
“Integrity in law enforcement is paramount,” District Attorney Miriam Rocah said. “I commend our partners at the New York State Police for referring this case to our Office and demonstrating their commitment to accountability and transparency.”
Longo was placed on administrative leave in November of last year and is scheduled to be arraigned on February 16.
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