Ex-Atlanta Cop Guilty of Taking Payoffs

Criminal Law

A former police officer pleaded guilty Thursday to taking cash payoffs from the owner of an apartment complex in exchange for special protection.

The extortion was revealed during the investigation into another embarrassing incident for Atlanta police: the fatal 2006 police shooting of an elderly woman in a botched drug raid.

Daniel Betts, who resigned from the police force Wednesday, pleaded guilty to one federal count of interfering with interstate commerce by means of extortion under color of official right.

Betts admitted taking payoffs from the owner of the complex, which functions as a rehabilitation facility for recovering drug addicts. Prosecutors said he took $120 a week from the apartment owner over at least a four-month period last year.

Betts, 26, told U.S. District Judge Julie Carnes he didn't know his conduct was illegal at the time, but he does now.

Related listings

  • Prostitute murders accused in court

    Prostitute murders accused in court

    Criminal Law 01/15/2008

    A former pub landlord accused of murdering five prostitutes has appeared in court for a second day ahead of the start of his trial.Steve Wright, 49, of Ipswich, Suffolk, denies murdering Gemma Adams, 25, Tania Nicol, 19, Anneli Alderton, 24, Paula Cl...

  • NY Man Guilty in Death of White Teen

    NY Man Guilty in Death of White Teen

    Criminal Law 12/24/2007

    A jury on Saturday convicted a black man of killing a white teenager during a racially charged encounter outside the man's home.Jurors found John White, 54, guilty of second-degree manslaughter in the death of Daniel Cicciaro despite the man's claims...

  • Boys’ Kidnapper Gets 170 Years More

    Boys’ Kidnapper Gets 170 Years More

    Criminal Law 12/22/2007

    Michael Devlin received one final sentence Friday — 170 years — for making pornography of a boy he kidnapped and sexually assaulted over four years.Devlin is already serving multiple life terms for kidnapping and assaulting Shawn Hornbeck and another...

Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC

A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party

Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party

However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.

Business News

New York & New Jersey Family Law Matters We represent our clients in all types of proceedings that include termination of parental rights. >> read