Disgraced Cops Face Federal Suit From Innocent NYers They Framed

NEW YORK CITY — Exoneration isn't enough for Taron Parkinson and eight other New Yorkers who were framed by a pair of corrupt cops.

Being cleared by the justice system and seeing the NYPD officers who framed them — Kevin Desormeau and Sasha Cordoba — face punishment simply won't make up for the lost opportunities and pain, they argued in a federal civil complaint filed Wednesday.

"These cops put me in a situation I should have never been in," Parkinson said Wednesday. "When I got out of jail, I couldn't go to college like I planned. I couldn't drive or operated a vehicle. I couldn't find jobs because I had a felony on my record.

"I was on parole and I told them that I shouldn't even be there because I was innocent, but they didn't believe me. Maybe because that's what people say all the time, but it was true for me."

The civil lawsuit is only the latest repercussion to stem from the disgrace of Desmoreau and Cordoba, who pleaded guilty to charges connected to framing innocent New Yorkers.

Prosecutors in Queens recently requested 54 cases connected to the pair be vacated.

But the pair themselves escaped major punishment. Cordoba received a sentence of 60 days in prison, while Desormeau received three years of probation.

The civil complaint argues the victims of Cordoba and Desmoreau simply haven't been made whole. And it also seeks to change an NYPD culture that turned a systemic blind eye to corrupt cops.

"The New York police disciplinary apparatus almost never imposed significant discipline against police officers accused of violating the civil and constitutional rights of members of the public," the lawsuit states. "The New York police disciplinary apparatus included no mechanism for identifying police officers who were repeatedly accused of engaging in the same type of misconduct."

Many of the wrongfully convicted New Yorkers told their stories Wednesday on a virtual call with their attorneys at Loevy & Loevy, a civil rights firm handling their case.

Vaughn Payne said he lost his clothing line and store after his wrongful conviction.

Audrey Brown lost custody of her child. She recounted the helplessness she felt, especially because of a past conviction.

“Who can you call when you’re innocent and you have a criminal record?" she said. "Who’s gonna believe you?”

Renee Spence, an attorney with the firm, said most overturned cases connected to the disgraced cops didn't involve major felonies or violent crimes.

Most cases were misdemeanors and low-level felonies, she said, calling it "all the more nefarious and troubling."

The NYPD also fought advocates who sought to expose the two officers' corruption, she said.

Spence noted the lawsuit lists "scores" of cases in which NYPD officers, not just Desmoreau and Cordoba, fabricated evidence or suppressed information that could have cleared defendants.

More exonerations are likely coming down the pipe, she said.

“This is a systemic issue where the system permits and condones this kind of behavior and there’s little to no repercussion for fabricating evidence for framing people and for taking people from their families and destroying people’s lives,” she said.

“Currently, there are no systems in place to hold NYPD accountable,” said Danielle Hamilton, another attorney with the firm. “NYPD and its disgraced officers need to take steps to repair the damage.”

But many victims who brought the lawsuit expressed mixed feelings the system that wronged them can correct itself.

Brown said the "blue wall" of cops protecting cops likely will remain.

"We might be setting and sending an example, but it's not gonna get much better," she said. "That's just one or two picked out of a barrel of crabs — you take one or two out, you still have a whole full barrel."

Davon Armstrong said the lawsuit provides a little hope, but it will never bring back his niece's birthday that he missed.

"Who knew that going to the store would be so dangerous?” he said.

TARON PARKINSON et al. v. K... by andy9736