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Ex-Beacon Detective's Conviction Upheld After Latest Appeal

Former City of Beacon detective Richard Sassi Jr. has lost another bid to have his conviction for falsely reporting a burglary in 2012 to avoid being caught in an affair thrown out.

Richard Sassi Jr.

Richard Sassi Jr.

Photo Credit: Dutchess County Jail

In their decision last month, the Second Department Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court found "that it (the evidence) was legally sufficient to establish the defendant’s guilt." 

The denial was the second the former police sergeant has been dealt since being convicted twice for falsely reporting a burglary in 2012 to hide that fact that he was having an affair with a police informant he had recruited.

Sassi's attorney claimed during the appeal that evidence used at trial, including text messages from the informant, were insufficient but the court found that the deleted texts and rules and regulations of the Drug Task Force, "gave context to records that were admitted."

The ex-detective was first convicted in October 2013 and sentenced to six months in jail for making the false report.

According to court records, Sassi hid in the closet of the informant when her boyfriend came to her apartment and had a verbal dispute, during which Sassi allegedly pointed his gun at the boyfriend. The detective then called 911 under the name of Mike Smith to report a burglary. 

Sassi was granted an appeal for his first conviction on the basis that the word “burglary” needed to be better explained before the jury could make a decision. He was found guilty again in Feb. 2016, and received 60 days in jail and three years of probation.

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