MANHATTAN (CN) - Prosecutors dismissed heroin-possession charges this morning against one of the cops accused and acquitted of raping an East Village woman, removing the possibility that disgraced former New York City cop Kenneth Moreno will face more than one year in prison for misconduct.
In a May verdict met with widespread protest, a jury acquitted Moreno and his partner, Franklin Mata, of raping a drunken, semiconscious young woman whom they were called to escort home. Though cleared of the most serious charges, the jury convicted Moreno and Mata of three misdemeanor counts of official misconduct.
At an Aug. 8 sentencing hearing, Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Gregory Carro made it clear that he found the accuser's story far more credible than that of Moreno, and gave him the maximum sentence for the minor charges.
Moreno will not spend any additional time for heroin allegedly found in his locker.
"Given that the defendant has received a one-year sentence, the maximum sentence allowable under the law on each of the three misdemeanors with which he was convicted, there is no criminal justice purpose to proceed on the two additional misdemeanors stemming from the two glassines of heroin found in his locker," prosecutor Coleen Balbert said. "So we move to dismiss those counts."
Lawyers for Moreno denied that the heroin was his and said it was found in a shared locker. They are appealing his misconduct conviction.
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