Staten
Island cop, who falsely arrested black man, insists he's not racist
In a letter seeking leniency from a federal judge before his scheduled sentencing
on Friday, Michael Daragjati said he busted Kenrick Gray on trumped-up charges
"not because of the color of his skin, but, rather, because he was rude
and disrespectful to me,"
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A former Staten Island cop said his own ignorance
-- not racism -- fueled his decision to falsely arrest a black man in Stapleton
last year and afterward boast that he had just "fried another
n-----."
In a letter seeking leniency from a federal judge before his scheduled
sentencing on Friday, Michael Daragjati said he busted Kenrick Gray on
trumped-up charges of resisting arrest because Gray had griped after the
ex-police officer roughly frisked him on the street.
"I did so, not because of the color of his skin, but, rather,
because he was rude and disrespectful to me," Daragjati wrote last Friday
to District Judge William F. Kuntz II. "I thought that if he received a
DAT (desk appearance ticket), this person wouldn't have learned that he should
not be disrespectful to law enforcement. In an attempt to teach him this
lesson, I charged him with resisting arrest, causing him to spend two nights in
jail while he waited arraignment. This was wrong. ... I am not a racist."
Gray would have been let go had he been issued the desk appearance
ticket.
In January, Daragjati, 33, who is white, pleaded guilty in Brooklyn
federal court to depriving Gray of his civil rights and to attempted extortion
stemming from an unrelated off-duty incident involving a stolen snowplow.
In asking Kuntz for leniency, Daragjati said his family has suffered
both emotionally and financially during his eight months of incarceration since
his October arrest.
Attached to his missive is what, he said, is a recent birthday gift from
his wife -- a collage of photos showing the family in happier times, posing in
front of Disney World's Magic Kingdom, building sand castles at the beach and
dressing up for a formal affair.
The couple has three daughters.
"This unfortunate spiral of shame renders me speechless. Once
outspoken, I am now heartbroken ... from the shame that I have visited upon my
family and myself," Daragjati told the judge.
Though the five-page letter is mainly contrite, Daragjati suggests he's
been punished long enough.
"I am not too proud to unequivocally state that I was wrong ...
[but] it does not do me or anyone else any good to incarcerate me further. This
may happen and I accept that. But I do ask you for leniency."
The Tottenville resident and former Staten Island anti-crime unit member
could face a maximum of 20 years in prison for attempted extortion, a felony,
and up to a year behind bars for the civil-rights crime, which is a
misdemeanor. The minimum for each is no jail time.
His lawyer, Ronald P. Fischetti, said federal sentencing guidelines
indicate a prison sentence of between 46 and 57 months, although they aren't
binding on the judge. Daragjati, who lost his job and pension, won't appeal any
sentence of 63 months or less.
Gray has sued Daragjati and the city over the April 15, 2011, incident.
He was busted even though no contraband or weapon was found on him,
After the arrest, Daragjati spewed a racial epithet in crowing about the
incident to a friend.
"I offer no excuse or justification for my use of the word, but
wish to inform you that I did not use that word out of a racist motivation,
but, instead, as part of the culture that I was accustomed to," the ex-cop
wrote the judge. "That word was not reserved for people of color; it was
used as an ignorant reference to those people in the street because of their
conduct and disrespect for the community and members of law enforcement...
"I have come to recognize that while actions typically speak louder
than words, when it comes to racially charged language, words trump
actions."
In his support, several former colleagues and supervisors wrote the
court attesting to Daragjati's excellent police work and his "compassion
and generosity" to all suspects, regardless of their race.
The attempted extortion conviction stems from a March 4, 2011, incident.
Authorities said Daragjati tried to get $5,000 from a man he believed
had stolen his commercial snowplow. Daragjati ran a construction and
snow-removal business called Essential Renovations out of his home, while
off-duty.
The defendant was with several other men in a parking lot on the Island
when the alleged thief was threatened and beaten. As it turned out, Daragjati
later learned someone else had taken the equipment, prosecutors said.
Daragjati said he had become frustrated after authorities told him there
wasn't enough evidence to arrest anyone over the theft.
"Most regrettably, I allowed my disappointment to interfere with my
better judgment, and I took matters into my own hands," he wrote the
judge. "This was wrong. The ends do not justify the means."
But he insisted he never meant for the man to be hurt and never told
anyone to strike him.
Rather, one of his cohorts, hit the victim "in the heat of the
moment," said Daragjati, adding he accepts full responsibility for the
episode.