Simple parking permit case grew into major ticket-fixing scandal
BY Rocco Parascandola
DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU CHIEF
Wednesday, September 21st 2011, 4:00 AM
Source
Officer Jose Ramos is a key player in the birth of the massive ticket-fixing scandal
On March 23, 2009, NYPD Internal Affairs Sgt. Ramon Valdez filed Investigating Officer's Report No. 08-54737.
Officer Jose Ramos, it reads, was suspected of unauthorized use of a parking permit and something far less mundane - associating with a suspected drug dealer in the Bronx.
The Guyana-born suspected dealer, Lee King - better known by his street name, Marco Mack - had a second job managing a Mott Haven barbershop owned by Ramos.
According to the report, Mack drove Ramos' 2007 Nissan Murano, used his NYPD parking placard and kept a .380 handgun in a shop safe that may have also held drugs.
The investigation into Ramos' ties with Mack abruptly took a dramatic turn on Aug. 18, 2009, when Ramos got a call from a friend, Steven Barbu, who wanted help getting a ticket fixed.
Intrigued, Internal Affairs Bureau investigators kept listening. There was another call that month, then eight more in October - all to discuss what ultimately was a failed, almost comical attempt to fix the same ticket.
It was the start of what would become an explosive probe into ticket-fixing at the NYPD.
On Oct. 3, Ramos took a callfrom a man - his identity unclear, according to the documents - who apparently hadbeen given a Criminal Courtsummons after getting involved in a fight in which he flashed gang signs.
Ramos fixed the ticket, according to the documents, and for the first time, it appears, Ramos benefited from the favor - free admission to a party and work for his son.
"The unknown male told Jose [Ramos] that he wanted to see him so he could take care of him," the documents read. "Jose said, 'No problem.'
"Jose said money was tight because they were going to [the Dominican Republic] less than a week after the party. The unknown male told Jose to invite a few people. He has the tablecloths, the trays for the food, ice. Jose said the food and decorations are the most expensive. Unknown male said his price would be like $7 a person.
"They also spoke about Jose's son working for the unknown male. The unknown male saidhe needs him every Saturday at 9o'clock, $15 an hour (5 hours)."
'He didn't do nothing for me'
That man, reached by the Daily News, wouldn't identify himself but said he did hire Ramos' son.
Pressed for details, he reversed course. "He didn't do nothing for me," the man claimed.
In other phone conversations that month about fixing tickets, Ramos didn't appear to ask for anything in return.
In one case, he worked to help "Angie," apparently a domestic violence victim who was living in a shelter. She was trying to get Ramos to fix a ticket for a friend of hers.
In another, he promised to help out a barbershop worker who got a parking ticket.
Ramos, who joined the NYPD is 1993 and is now 42, has been on modified duty since virtually the beginning of the internal investigation.
He is assigned to the Housing Bureau and is likely to be indicted on several felonies, sources said.
He has refused to discuss the investigation, other than to say he did nothing wrong.
Mack has a felony burglary conviction on his record. In another case, he was arrested for drug possession and eventually pleaded to unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. He could not be reached for comment.
Barbu feigned ignorance, claiming he doesn't know Ramos and hanging up the phone.
rparascandola@nydailynews.com
BY Rocco Parascandola
DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU CHIEF
Wednesday, September 21st 2011, 4:00 AM
Source
Officer Jose Ramos is a key player in the birth of the massive ticket-fixing scandalOn March 23, 2009, NYPD Internal Affairs Sgt. Ramon Valdez filed Investigating Officer's Report No. 08-54737.
Officer Jose Ramos, it reads, was suspected of unauthorized use of a parking permit and something far less mundane - associating with a suspected drug dealer in the Bronx.
The Guyana-born suspected dealer, Lee King - better known by his street name, Marco Mack - had a second job managing a Mott Haven barbershop owned by Ramos.
According to the report, Mack drove Ramos' 2007 Nissan Murano, used his NYPD parking placard and kept a .380 handgun in a shop safe that may have also held drugs.
The investigation into Ramos' ties with Mack abruptly took a dramatic turn on Aug. 18, 2009, when Ramos got a call from a friend, Steven Barbu, who wanted help getting a ticket fixed.
Intrigued, Internal Affairs Bureau investigators kept listening. There was another call that month, then eight more in October - all to discuss what ultimately was a failed, almost comical attempt to fix the same ticket.
It was the start of what would become an explosive probe into ticket-fixing at the NYPD.
On Oct. 3, Ramos took a callfrom a man - his identity unclear, according to the documents - who apparently hadbeen given a Criminal Courtsummons after getting involved in a fight in which he flashed gang signs.
Ramos fixed the ticket, according to the documents, and for the first time, it appears, Ramos benefited from the favor - free admission to a party and work for his son.
"The unknown male told Jose [Ramos] that he wanted to see him so he could take care of him," the documents read. "Jose said, 'No problem.'
"Jose said money was tight because they were going to [the Dominican Republic] less than a week after the party. The unknown male told Jose to invite a few people. He has the tablecloths, the trays for the food, ice. Jose said the food and decorations are the most expensive. Unknown male said his price would be like $7 a person.
"They also spoke about Jose's son working for the unknown male. The unknown male saidhe needs him every Saturday at 9o'clock, $15 an hour (5 hours)."
'He didn't do nothing for me'
That man, reached by the Daily News, wouldn't identify himself but said he did hire Ramos' son.
Pressed for details, he reversed course. "He didn't do nothing for me," the man claimed.
In other phone conversations that month about fixing tickets, Ramos didn't appear to ask for anything in return.
In one case, he worked to help "Angie," apparently a domestic violence victim who was living in a shelter. She was trying to get Ramos to fix a ticket for a friend of hers.
In another, he promised to help out a barbershop worker who got a parking ticket.
Ramos, who joined the NYPD is 1993 and is now 42, has been on modified duty since virtually the beginning of the internal investigation.
He is assigned to the Housing Bureau and is likely to be indicted on several felonies, sources said.
He has refused to discuss the investigation, other than to say he did nothing wrong.
Mack has a felony burglary conviction on his record. In another case, he was arrested for drug possession and eventually pleaded to unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. He could not be reached for comment.
Barbu feigned ignorance, claiming he doesn't know Ramos and hanging up the phone.
rparascandola@nydailynews.com