CANANDAIGUA \u2014 Another chapter in a challenging time for the Geneva Police Department has closed.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Ontario County Court Judge Fred Reed sentenced former police officer Michael Tapscott to 16 weekends in jail, along with five years\u2019 probation, following his plea to multiple drug charges earlier this year that was negotiated between Reed and Tapscott\u2019s attorney.<\/p>\n
Tapscott begins his sentence this weekend, said Christine Callanan, the Wayne County district attorney who was asked to prosecute the case.<\/p>\n
Tapscott was charged last May. He resigned a day before being charged.<\/p>\n
In October, he was indicted by an Ontario County grand jury on six felony counts of fifth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, six felony counts of fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, eight misdemeanor counts of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, 11 misdemeanor counts of official misconduct, and a misdemeanor count of petit larceny.<\/p>\n
In February, Tapscott was indicted on additional drug charges: three more counts of each felony, and two more counts of official misconduct. He subsequently pleaded guilty to all counts \u2014 40 in total \u2014 in both indictments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis case involved a serious breach of the public trust by someone sworn to uphold the law,\u201d Callanan said in a statement following the sentencing. \u201cMichael Tapscott\u2019s actions damaged confidence in law enforcement and diminished the integrity of the badge he once carried. Today\u2019s sentence reflects the principle that no individual is above the law, regardless of position or profession. I want to specifically thank the Geneva Police Department and the Ontario County Sheriff\u2019s Office for their professionalism, cooperation, and commitment to ensuring this matter was thoroughly investigated and brought to a just conclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Geneva Police Chief Ron Eveland issued a statement following the sentence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen this matter came to our attention, we acted swiftly and cooperated fully with the investigative and prosecutorial process,\u201d he said. \u201cThe conduct that led to Michael Tapscott\u2019s sentencing was unacceptable and was treated as such from the start. Accountability is not optional in this profession. We hope this outcome brings closure to our community and to the dedicated men and women of this department who serve with integrity every day. We are committed to moving forward and to continuing to earn the trust of those we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sentencing follows a guilty plea earlier this month by former Geneva police officer Nathan Jacon, who pleaded guilty to seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance in Ontario County Court. Jacon was given a conditional discharge and, like Tapscott, is barred from working in law enforcement in New York State.<\/p>\n
Two more cases related to the indictments last April are pending.<\/p>\n
Geneva Police Sgt. David Felice, who is on paid administrative leave, was indicted on charges of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, tampering with physical evidence, and official misconduct.<\/p>\n
Also indicted was William B. McGowan, of Newark, who was charged with tampering with physical evidence. McGowan was a member of the Hobart and William Smith Colleges\u2019 Campus Safety staff. He was placed on administrative leave, the Colleges said last year following his indictment. He is not listed as a staff member on the HWS Public Safety page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CANANDAIGUA \u2014 Another chapter in a challenging time for the Geneva Police Department has closed. On Thursday, Ontario…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7],"tags":[1655,10322,10321,13949,9652,28998,4440,65,13947,13724,68,15421,67,10320,5908,13945,13480,39853,13943,72,13944,71,11817],"class_list":["post-76220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-geneva","tag-crime","tag-criminal-justice","tag-criminal-law","tag-criminal-procedure","tag-district-attorney","tag-drug-prohibition","tag-felony","tag-geneva","tag-indictment","tag-jury","tag-justice","tag-larceny","tag-law","tag-law-enforcement","tag-lawyer","tag-legal-procedure","tag-misconduct","tag-misdemeanor","tag-plea","tag-police","tag-prosecutor","tag-public-law","tag-sheriffs-in-the-united-states"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116680434981492582","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}