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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
FORMER FAYETTEVILLE POLICE OFFICER SENTENCED IN FEDERAL COURT
WILMINGTON - United States Attorney George E. B. Holding announced today’s sentencing of JARED BENJAMIN PARSEK, a former officer with the Fayetteville Police Department. PARSEK was sentenced by United States District Court Judge James C. Fox to 225 months imprisonment, ordered to pay $54,352.00 in restitution and three years supervised release.
On March 8, 2006, PARSEK pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit Civil Rights violations, one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, one count of the use and carrying of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, two counts of possession of stolen firearms, one count of making false statements to an FBI agent, and one count of obstruction of justice by destroying an object.
Documents presented to the Court showed that beginning as early as September, 2003, and continuing to at least on or about November, 2004, PARSEK along with JUSTIN BARRON MCCARTY, CHRISTOPHER PAUL EDGE, II, SCOTTY JOWAYNE CORNWELL, MICHAEL ULYSSES POOLE, JR., WILLIAM FRANKLIN STAUSING, PATRICK GREGORY SMITH, JAMES PATRICK RICHLING, and MICHAEL ANTHONY TIMAL while acting under the color of law, entered into a scheme to use police methods, information and equipment to break-in to and steal firearms, narcotics, electronics and other property from at least six residences in Fayetteville, Raleigh, and Beech Mountain. PARSEK would gain information about target locations by having responded to a call himself or by learning of the location from his police radio. PARSEK would then communicate with and notify the civilian conspirators that based on knowledge he obtained while a police officer, certain residential locations were identified as being vacant or otherwise empty and ripe for the conspirators to break in to and steal property found at the target locations. Once target locations were identified, the civilian conspirators would act in concert with and at the direction of PARSEK to plan and execute the break-ins, identify and steal the desired property, escape and later divide up the property. All defendants have pled guilty for their role in the conspiracy.
Also sentenced today were MCCARTY who was sentenced to 254 months imprisonment, ordered to pay $54,352.00 in restitution, and three years supervised release; CORNWELL who was sentenced to 36 months, ordered to pay $37,700.00 in restitution and three years supervised release.
On December 13, 2006, Judge Fox sentenced EDGE to 57 months’ imprisonment, three years’ supervised release, a $200.00 special assessment and restitution in the amount of $3,240.00; STAUSING to 112 months’ imprisonment, 5 years’ supervised release, a $200.00 fine and restitution in the amount of $12,852.13; and TIMAL to 27 months’ imprisonment, one year supervised release, a $100.00 special assessment and a fine of $725.00. Sentencing for POOLE, SMITH and RICHLING are currently set for the March 26, 2007, term of court.
United States Attorney Holding stated, “Illegal conduct of sworn law enforcement officers for private financial gain jeopardizes not only our public safety but undermines our democracy and they must be held accountable. This prosecution was the result of a focused commitment by federal, state and local government to ensure the integrity of those charged with upholding our law.”
Investigation of the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Fayetteville Police Department with assistance from the Raleigh Police Department, the Beech Mountain Police Department, the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office and the Wake County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas B. Murphy prosecuted the case for the United States.
News releases are available on the U. S. Attorney’s web page at www.usdoj.gov/usao/nce within 48 hours of release.
