By Dan Murphy
The resignation and guilty plea last month of Yonkers Police Detective Sean Fogarty was a sad day for Yonkers. Fogarty, 45, who had served for 22 years, pleaded guilty in a Manhattan courtroom to misdemeanor perjury for testifying falsely in a drug case in 2018.
Fogarty was reassigned to a federal drug task force in 2015, and in 2018, he supervised a raid at a Bronx home of Calvin Powell. The warrant for the raid allowed police to search the first and second floors of the home.
Seventeen kilos of cocaine were found on the third floor of the building, but Fogarty testified that the drugs were found on the second floor, and based on his testimony, Powell spent five months incarcerated at Riker’s Island before the charges were tossed out.
“For 22 years, he helped keep the streets of Yonkers safe; the streets of New York City safe,” said Det. Keith Olson, Yonkers PBA president. “In this case, he made a mistake and he’s paying dearly for it.”
Fogarty was in handcuffs while making his guilty plea in Manhattan Criminal Court. He was sentenced to a conditional discharge, the condition being his retirement from the police department, which took effect before his plea.
Powell has filed a federal lawsuit against Fogarty, the NYC Special Prosecutor’s Office, and others involved in his wrongful arrest, including Mt. Vernon Detective Johanna Santos, who was a member of the task force that included Fogarty.
The lawsuit accuses Santos and Doherty of conspiring with Fogarty to keep the truth from prosecutors, but neither Santos or Doherty is facing criminal charges.
At the time of his arrest, Powell had been on parole after serving a 10-year federal prison sentence for selling cocaine. Powell spoke with the media after Fogarty’s appearance in court and was not happy that he was allowed to plea to a lesser charge, and not a felony.
“He was trying to send me away for 25, 30 years and he tried it by lying on me,” said Powell. “He should know what (prison time) feels like.”
Fogarty, 45, joined the Yonkers Police Department in 2007 after spending nine years in the NYPD. He was promoted to detective in 2012 and joined the task force in 2015. Fogarty will be allowed to collect his pension.
Westchester District Attorney Anthony Scarpino commented on the plea deal.
“We have learned that Detective Sean Fogarty, a retiring member of the Yonkers Police Department, is the subject of a federal lawsuit brought by a wrongly accused man, stemming from a drug case where Fogarty was assigned as a member of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force,” said Scarpino. “The allegation is that he perjured himself in a search warrant application.
“In light of these allegations, I have ordered an immediate review of all past and pending cases in which Det. Fogarty may have been involved to be conducted by First Deputy District Attorney Victor Olds, chief of professional responsibility, who heads our conviction integrity investigations. FDDA Olds reports directly to me and has full authority to access all the resources of our office to conduct a complete and thorough investigation in collaboration with our Investigations Division Public Integrity Bureau. If we determine that any conviction was the result of an illegal action by Det. Fogarty, we will immediately move to vacate the conviction.”
Scarpino’s actions did not seem to be enough for Mimi Rocah, who is challenging Scarpino in a democratic primary for Westchester D.A. Rocah, who has commented on the majority of prosecutors across the country who are white men, tweeted: “I didn’t need to be a white man to get convictions. When women take a seat at the table, we get it done. It’s time for us to lead.”
Re-tweeted a tweet from Alvin Bragg, who is running for D.A. of Manhattan, she also tweeted: “Just let another connected person evade justice. An officer who lied to a grand jury will serve no jail time. The person he lied on spent five months in jail. Lies by law enforcement cannot be tolerated. They fundamentally undermine the integrity of the system.”
