Three More Ex-NYPD Cops Arrested in Cash-for-Gun-Permit Scheme

Three more former NYPD officers were arrested Tuesday for their alleged role in a gun-license bribery scheme.

Lt. Paul Dean and Officer Robert Espinel allegedly accepted bribes — including cash, prostitutes and cases of beer — for fast-tracking gun permits, some to people with extensive arrest records.

The bribes came from so-called expediters, who charge people a fee for help getting gun permits. Two expediters — retired NYPD detective Gaetano Valastro and former Brooklyn prosecutor John Chambers — were also arrested.

The arrests were the result of a joint investigation involving the FBI, NYPD Internal Affairs and the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan.

Last year, two other NYPD officers in the license division and two expediters were arrested as part of the scheme. They already pleaded guilty and are cooperating with federal prosecutors.

“Our investigation continued as did our determination to aggressively pursue public corruption wherever we find it,” acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said.

Dean and Espinel retired last year. They allegedly got tired of seeing how much money the expediters were making from people trying to get gun permits, and planned to become professional middlemen themselves — helping people get gun permits by paying bribes to their former colleagues in the department.

NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said he was appalled at such behavior. He said it besmirches “the names of and reputations of the other 36,000 hardworking and courageous men and women.”

O’Neill said the department has made a number of changes to gun licensing, and no longer allows officers in the division to interact with expediters.