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GRAHAM BRINKRobert David Dixon receives a reduced prison term for cooperating with the investigation.
TAMPA - A second former Plant City police officer indicted in a corruption probe is headed to prison.
A federal judge sentenced Robert David Dixon on Monday to eight months in prison followed by two years of probation. Dixon's sentence comes three days after former colleague Armand Cotnoir received 30 months in prison.
Dixon, 41, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in 2001 and then cooperated with the investigation, which included testifying against Cotnoir last summer.
Dixon, who faced about three years in prison, received a reduced sentence for accepting responsibility for his crimes. He got a further reduction for cooperating.
On Monday, Dixon apologized for breaking the law.
"I will not stand here and say I was done wrong," Dixon told the judge. "I did wrong."
U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday said Dixon "breached a trust."
"I believe you know that every police officer will pay a little price for what you did," he said.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement began investigating the Plant City Police Department in 1999 after an officer alleged that other officers in the department's Special Investigations Unit were stealing pornographic videotapes from suspects' homes, faking search warrants and lying to judges.
FDLE agents set up a sting in 2000 in which they observed officers Cotnoir, Dixon and Shawn Corgan illegally entering a motel room and stealing a videotape.
Corgan lied to the grand jury and later pleaded guilty to a perjury charge. He received six months of house arrest and agreed to cooperate with the investigation.
At Cotnoir's trial, Dixon testified that many of his superiors knew about or participated in the corruption.
"If your sergeant, captain, city manager and your chief know what's going on," Dixon told the jurors, "who's going to get you in trouble?"
Police Chief Bill McDaniel has denied allegations that higher-ups participated in or condoned the activities.
Cotnoir pleaded guilty in the middle of his trial after he learned many of the officers he and his lawyer had expected to testify on his behalf would invoke their rights against self-incrimination.
No one else has been indicted. Federal prosecutor Jeff Downing told the judge Monday that the investigation is ongoing.
Dixon's attorney, Danny Castillo, said his client is willing to testify against anyone else indicted. Castillo referred to the department as a "festering cesspool of corruption" and wondered aloud why no one else had faced charges.
"If I had my way," Castillo said, "several more people would have been indicted."
- Graham Brink can be reached at 226-3365 or brink@sptimes.com