Three Miami-Dade police officers lied under oath last year when they told a judge that they read a suspect his Miranda Rights during a traffic stop that led to a felony weapons charge, federal officials say.
The three officers -- patrolmen Jorge Luis Gonzalez and Alkibiades Dodge, and Sgt. Waell Farraj -- have been arrested and chaged with with perjury, obstructing justice and making false statements.Here's what happened, according to the federal indictment:
Last July, Dodge and Gonzalez stopped a twice-convicted drug smuggler named Pedro Marte near NW 27th Ave. and 27th Street.
The two officers found a gun hidden inside Marte's car. Marte, 25, admitted to owning the revolver after being read his Miranda rights, the officers testified under oath in his trial on felony weapons charges.
Federal prosecutors now say the police were lying when questioned by Judge Cecilia Altonaga, who was trying to determine whether the evidence against Marte would be admissible.
The indictment doesn't say specifically how they mislead Altonaga, but the Herald's Jay Weaver reports that the officers hid the fact that they were acting on an informant's tip when they pulled over Marte's car.
The three cops each face more than 20 years in prison if they're convicted of lying to the federal judge.
Marte's federal case was dismissed because of the controversey.
