Ex-police officer gets life plus 255 years

MEMPHIS, July 2 (UPI) -- An ex-police officer in Memphis who turned down a plea deal was sentenced life in prison plus 255 years for repeated use of a gun in crimes of violence.

Arthur Sease IV, who also was an aspiring rap music producer, was convicted on 44 counts of civil rights, narcotics, robbery and firearms offenses stemming from shakedowns of drug dealers for money, drugs and merchandise to finance his music dreams.

He is a key defendant in a series of federal public-corruption investigations in the past six years that have netted indictments and guilty pleas from more than 48 law enforcement officers from six different agencies, The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal reported.

"This is not an illusory sentence," said U.S. District Court Judge Jon McCalla, noting there is no parole in the federal system.

"This is a real one in which the numbers are real and the punishment is genuine," McCalla said. "It is a long sentence and it is what is required by the law, the facts and the circumstances."

Federal prosecutors said Sease was a crime-conspiracy kingpin who recruited other officers, organized "stangs," or robberies of drug dealers, and decided how proceeds would be distributed.

"The sentence is extraordinary in that it is one of the longest ever imposed for civil rights violations which did not involve a victim's death," special agent My Harrison in the FBI's Memphis field office said after the sentencing.

Sease, who has been in custody since his indictment three years ago, made a statement before sentencing in which he thanked his family for their support, denied being a sociopath and said Jesus too was crucified, the newspaper said.

He also quoted biblical passages about resurrection, truth and sin.