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BSO deputy charged in extortion may have accomplices, sheriff says
'By no means is this over,' Lamberti says about case in which deputy is accused of ignoring pot plants in exchange for cash
10/5/09 | South Florida Sun Sentinel | Joel Marino

FORT LAUDERDALE - A Broward sheriff's deputy arrested after authorities say he promised to turn a blind eye on a marijuana grow-house in exchange for cash became the fourth deputy this year to be accused of abusing their badge.

But Manuel Silva, 34, may not be the last.

The agency's Division of Internal Affairs is investigating allegations that the deputy had accomplices in the extortion scheme discovered last week, Sheriff Al Lamberti said Monday. The sheriff is also asking the public to report similar cases.

"By no means is this over," Lamberti said. "We believe he was not acting alone, and we're going to root out the other people who may have been involved."

Silva, a nine-year veteran of the force, is being held without bail in the Broward Main Jail on extortion, armed burglary and drug possession charges. He was suspended without pay.

On Sept. 29, Silva showed up at the Fort Lauderdale home of Orlando Gutierrez, 38, and insisted he be allowed to search the house, authorities said. The deputy was not in uniform but brandished a badge and a gun, Lamberti said.

After seeing five marijuana plants, Silva told Gutierrez he wouldn't arrest him or take the plants if Gutierrez gave him money, the Sheriff's Office said. Lamberti said Silva asked for "a significant amount" but would not say how much.

To sweeten the deal, Silva even offered to give Gutierrez the picture and name of the person who'd ratted him out, Lamberti said.

Gutierrez later told another person about the extortion. That person, whom Lamberti would not identify, reported Silva to a Broward sheriff's supervisor on Sept. 30, authorities said.

Deputies arrested Silva in Plantation on Friday after he'd picked up the cash from Gutierrez, officials said. Oxycodone pills and a prescription bottle of Cialis with the label partially removed were found in his unmarked patrol car, according to police reports.

"This is an indication of a bigger problem, and it all comes down to greed," Lamberti said.

Silva, assigned to the agency's Central Broward district, made nearly $68,000 in 2008, according to Sheriff's Office records. Any overtime he might have accrued that year was not included in the report.

Silva served as an intelligence analyst for the U.S. Army during the late 1990s before applying at the Sheriff's Office in 2000, according to his personnel report.

Known as the "go-to deputy," he quickly amassed scores of commendation letters and was nominated several times for his district's employee of the month award, which he won once in 2006.

A minor on-duty car crash in 2002 was the biggest blemish on his record, according to a Sheriff's Office Internal Affairs report.

Records show Silva's street work was valued by his supervisors. He built a solid network of sources that often gave him a heads-up to crime scenes and suspects.

"[Silva] has developed a very workable rapport with many residents of the area. This gives him a slight advantage when speaking to victims/witnesses and suspects," a supervisor wrote in the deputy's 2008 performance evaluation. "In many of his cases he knows where to start his investigation due to his knowledge of the area."

Silva's case bears similarities to the August arrest of Jonathan Bleiweiss, another deputy with a sterling record ruined by what Lamberti on Monday called an abuse of the public's trust.

Bleiweiss remains jailed, accused of intimidating eight men into performing sex acts with him. Because the men were illegal immigrants, Bleiweiss would threaten to have them deported if they reported him to authorities, officials said.

Also in August, the Sheriff's Office arrested Detention Deputy Gladys Dauphin after a six-month investigation into charges that she severely injured a jail inmate by hitting him on the head with a radio.

In March, Deputy Charles Grady Jr. resigned after being formally charged with two counts of battery. Grady had been accused of inappropriately touching women during traffic stops in 2008.

Authorities ask anyone with information about this or other cases that might involve Silva to call the Sheriff's Internal Affairs department at 954-321-1100.

Joel Marino can be reached at jmarino@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4552.
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