A former NYPD official has been sentenced to two years probation and 180 hours of community service for giving special police benefits to a community leader he considered a friend.
Ex-Deputy Chief Michael Harrington, 52, previously pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to a charge of misapplication of property valued at $5,000 or more.
In addition to the probation, he was fined $5,000 and ordered to pay $6,000 in restitution.
Harrington admitted to arranging services including a police escort for a funeral, counterterrorism protection at a midtown Manhattan synagogue at Jewish holidays and for disabled children to observe NYPD training, all for the personal benefit of Jeremy Reichberg, a private citizen, as well as Reichberg's friends and associates.
In return, Harrington gottens of thousands of dollars worth of business to a security company run by his family members and friends, thousands of dollars worth of meals in high-end restaurants, premium tickets to sporting events and a video game system and other gifts for his children, prosecutors said.
"After years of service to the NYPD, Michael Harrington abused the sacred trust placed in him by the NYPD and the people of New York by applying the people’s resources, including its officers, to the interests and whims of a connected few," said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman.
Reichberg and another co-defendant, former NYPD Deputy Inspector James Grant, are to face trial for honest services fraud, bribery and conspiracy charges in October.
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Sentencing is set for June 11.
