Aug 26, 2008 10:44 pm US/Central
Video Of Officer, Co. Worker In Sting Goes Public
(WCCO)
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Two employees of the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office, Mark Naylon and Timothy Rehak, are under indictment on charges of wire fraud, theft of funds and conspiracy. (File)
Star Tribune
Jurors will have to decide whether the federal case against two Ramsey County Sheriff's aides was police corruption or simply a joke.
Mark Naylon, a public information officer for the Ramsey County Sheriff, and Timothy Rehak, a St. Paul Police officer, were charged with fraud, theft and violation of civil rights after they took $6,000 from a St. Paul hotel room in November 2004.
It was part of an FBI integrity test that was trying to determine whether Rehak was corrupt. FBI agents left $13,500 in the hotel room and then had an informant call Rehak to tell him a drug dealer had left it there.
A videotape released by the judge on Tuesday showed Rehak came to the room with Naylon, a civilian employee, and another officer, Ramsey County Sgt. Rollie Martinez. Martinez was in the bathroom when the video shows Naylon stuffing $6,000 of the $13,500 in his pocket.
Defense lawyers said the incident was a joke. They said Naylon and Rehak wanted to mess with Martinez because they thought he didn't work hard enough.
They said they'd planned to let him go home, and then call him back with the $6,000 after he "had his footy pajamas on."
However, prosecutors said Naylon and Rehak wanted to take the money and only called Martinez back after they checked a database. They said when the database showed the alleged drug dealer was a fake, Naylon and Rehak realized they may have been set-up.
Both Rehak and Naylon are on paid administrative leave from their jobs. The jury is expected to begin deliberating Wednesday morning. The men could face up to 20 years in prison for the fraud charges, 10 years for theft and 10 years for violating civil rights.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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