Top NYPD Officials Arrested in Corruption Probe

Three senior NYPD officials and others, including a fundraiser for Mayor Bill de Blasio, are facing corruption charges in the wake of a sprawling federal investigation. A fourth police officer has already pleaded guilty and is cooperating with investigators.

Deputy Chief Michael Harrington and Deputy Inspector James Grant were charged with taking bribes, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday. The two allegedly received trips, expensive meals and even prostitutes from Brooklyn businessman Jeremy Reichberg, who was also charged, and another man who already pleaded guilty and is now cooperating with the feds. Reichberg and the cooperating witness even wore elf hats one Christmas and delivered gifts to the homes of the two top cops.

In exchange, the NYPD officials allegedly provided “cops on call,” according to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. That meant help fixing tickets and settling disputes, among other favors.

In a separate case stemming from the same broader investigation, Sergeant David Villanueva was accused of accepting bribes in exchange for gun licenses, including some for people with arrest records. Another police officer in the gun licensing division, Richard Ochetal, has already pleaded guilty for his involvement in the scheme and is cooperating with the feds, according to prosecutors. Alex Lichtenstein, head of an Orthodox Jewish safety patrol, had already been charged for paying the bribes and is named in the superseding indictment.

Close to a dozen NYPD officials have been put on modified assignment or left the department in the wake of the probe.

Still, Commissioner William Bratton said the issues with the officers are nothing like the cases that led to the Knapp Commission in the 1970s or the Mollen Commission in the 1990s. Those commissions were formed to investigate widespread corruption within the department. Bratton said the issues are confined to a few individual officers.

Reichberg was a fundraiser for de Blasio. Bharara said there’s no connection between the charges unsealed Monday and the mayor.

Outside the federal courthouse Monday, Grant’s attorney John Meringolo said they’ll assess the evidence as it becomes available.

“We don’t believe there was a federal crime committed,” Meringolo said.

Villanueva’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from WNYC.

Andrew Weinstein, Harrington's lawyer, told the Associated Press the charges were politically motivated.

"Chief Harrington is a loyal and devoted family man who has an unblemished record and has spent the last three decades working tirelessly to keep New York City safe," Weinstein is quoted as saying. "One would be hard-pressed to find a straighter arrow in their quiver."

Susan Necheles, Reichberg's lawyer, wrote in an email to the AP: "Mr. Reichberg did not commit a crime."

Reichberg's "only mistake," Necheles reportedly said, was befriending a government cooperator "who is desperately trying to get others in trouble in order to curry favor with prosecutors and save his own skin."

With additional reporting by the Associated Press.