A former NYPD officer was sentenced to two months in jail on a misconduct conviction Wednesday after he and his partner were acquitted of raping a woman they were summoned to help.
Franklin Mata also was sentenced to three years' probation. However, the sentence is stayed until Sept. 12 while he appeals.
"I have endured plenty during this time," said Mata, his voice so shaky with emotion that his words were sometimes indistinguishable. "I have lost my job, my name ... and I've lost respect from the people of New York City."
"I have learned from this experience, sir. I ask that you hear me and understand that I never meant for anybody to get hurt that night," he told the judge.
Ex-partner Kenneth Moreno was sentenced Monday to a year in jail. He also is free during a planned appeal.
State Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro said he didn't see Mata's participation in the crime as equivalent to Moreno's.
Their misdemeanor misconduct convictions were for repeatedly returning to the accuser's apartment while telling dispatchers they were elsewhere.
The Police Department fired both Mata, 29, and Moreno, 43, within hours of the May verdict.
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The two were called to help the drunken woman get out of a cab in December 2008.
Mata wasn't accused of sexually assaulting the woman himself, but prosecutors said he stood watch while Moreno was with the woman. Mata had been a police officer for about five years, Moreno for about 17. Both were charged with rape, burglary and other counts and acquitted of everything except official misconduct.
During their trial, Mata said he couldn't be sure what had happened while his partner and the woman were alone in her bedroom. But, he told jurors, "Ken wouldn't do something like that."
"You certainly drew the short straw when you got him as your partner," the judge told Mata at sentencing. "But you still continued to toe the line and carry your partner's bags, for some reason."
Now a 29-year-old fashion product developer in California, the woman has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the city over the incident.
