{"active":false,"first_name":"Michael","last_name":"Billotto","race":"White","gender":"Male","rank":"SGT","command":{"command":"101 PCT","id":"101pct"},"shield_no":819,"ended_date":"2013-07-25","taxid":"903074","complaint_ids":[201101726,201013144,201013346,200906384,9503876],"appt_date":"1993-08-30","lawsuits":[{"name":"Depas, Emmanuel vs City of New York, et al.","start_date":"2014-05-21","disposition_date":"2015-01-01","payout_amount":12500,"disposition":"Settlement","docket":"14CV03167","court":"U.S. District Court - Eastern District NY","officer_name":"Billotto, Michael","summary":"On July 15, 2011, Plaintiff was operating his motor vehicle lawfully with no criminality afoot. Then, Detective Duane Atkinson, Sergeant Joseph Muller, PO Anthony Andino, and Sergeant Michael Billotto pulled Plaintiff over, falsely claiming that Plaintiff’s brake lights were inoperable. The officers asked for permission to search the vehicle. When Plaintiff said that they could not without a warrant, the officers asserted that they smelled marijuana, which Plaintiff denied. The officers then searched the vehicle for twenty minutes, during which they repeatedly went to and into their unmarked police vehicles. Afterwards, the officers asserted that they had discovered marijuana. Plaintiff told them there was no marijuana in the car and that anything they had was planted there; such a practice, called “flaking”, disproportionately affects African-Americans, including Plaintiff. Plaintiff was arrested without legal basis. He was searched again at the precinct. No illegal items or contraband were recovered. Despite this, Plaintiff was issued a Desk Appearance Ticket. Officers provided false information to the DA’s Office, and, upon information and belief, during the criminal proceedings they forwarded false evidence to the same office. The officers' conduct was tantamount to discrimination against Plaintiff based on his ethnicity.","documents":[{"url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nyed.356592/gov.uscourts.nyed.356592.5.0.pdf","type":"complaint"}],"url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/13139250/depas-v-the-city-of-new-york/"}],"id":"GDB7","url":"https://www.50-a.org/officer/GDB7"}