CLEVELAND — A former East Cleveland police officer avoided a jail sentence after agreeing to a plea deal with prosecutors.
On Monday, Nicholas Foti was sentenced to 18 months of probation and 100 hours of community service in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. As part of his guilty plea to misdemeanor assault, Foti must surrender his license to be a police officer.
Foti was one of 11 current or former East Cleveland police officers that were indicted in March for allegedly violating civil rights and public corruption. In Foti's case, the charges stemmed from a 2020 traffic stop that turned violent. He was indicted on the following charges:
- Felonious assault
- Attempted felonious assault
- Assault
- Interfering with civil rights
- Dereliction of duty
Foti initially pled not guilty to the charges and a trial had been set for late last month. On Nov. 27, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office announced that Foti agreed to plead guilty to the assault charge.
A total of 18 current or former East Cleveland police officers have been indicted on criminal charges since 2022.
“There has been a cancer growing in the East Cleveland Police Department,” said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley when Foti was first indicted. “We are doing our best to remove every tentacle of that cancer, so this department can rebuild and grow to put itself in a position to hire officers who will enforce the law as well as follow the law. This is a sad day for all of law enforcement.”