Jose Antonio Ortiz, 46, who was known on the street as "El Flaco" (the skinny one), was a 20-year veteran of the Boston Police Department

A Boston police officer from Salem was sent to prison for more than 11 years yesterday, three months after pleading guilty to federal cocaine conspiracy and extortion charges stemming from his efforts to extort money for a ring of Colombian drug dealers, prosecutors said. Jose Antonio Ortiz, 46, who was known on the street as "El Flaco" (the skinny one), was a 20-year veteran of the Boston Police Department, with a somewhat checkered career, when he first approached a businessman, demanding payment of $265,000 to settle a drug debt that other individuals had incurred back in 2006. What Ortiz, who lived at 41 Endicott St. in Salem, didn't know is that the businessman had gone to authorities and was secretly taping his interactions with the corrupt cop. The businessman, identified in court papers as "Victim A," told authorities in 2003 and 2004 that he had been approached repeatedly by a man he knew as Elvis. Elvis asked the businessman if he knew anyone who might be interested in doing business with him. The businessman went to the authorities and then began a long involvement in a sting that would lead investigators to Ortiz. The businessman, acting at the direction of investigators, introduced Elvis to a man named Ramon. But the deal between Elvis and Ramon soured, and the drug dealers held the businessman responsible for more than $200,000 they claimed Ramon had stolen. In August 2006, Ortiz approached the man at his business, in full police uniform, according to an affidavit by FBI agent Scott Robbins. It would be the first of a series of visits, all with the same purpose: collecting the $265,000 the Colombians claimed they were owed. "Ortiz told Victim A that he was working for 'Colombian people' ... and that he was there to collect the money he owed to them," according to the affidavit. Ortiz went on to threaten that if the businessman did not pay up, either he or the Colombians would kill him.Ortiz told the businessman that he knew "everything" about him: where he lived, who his family and friends were. He even held up a photo of the businessman and said he would be watching him as well as his partner. He left a Boston police business card behind with the name "El Flaco" on the back. Investigators confirmed that Ortiz had used a Police Department computer to run a criminal history check and obtain personal information about the businessman, including his address, Social Security number and the type of car he drove. A few months later, the businessman met with Ortiz while the officer worked a police detail. This time, he was wearing a wire, which captured their discussion about settling the debt "little by little." Over the coming weeks, there would be more calls and meetings, during which the two men discussed the balance owed, as Ortiz put more pressure on the businessman. "Those people, like I told you ... don't joke about their money," Ortiz warned in Spanish. If they didn't get their money, "they are going to have to resolve the problem themselves. You understand me?"On March 22, the businessman made his first cash payment to Ortiz, which was secretly audio- and videotaped by law enforcement. Ortiz, in full uniform and working a police detail, accepted $2,000 in cash, tucking it into his uniform pocket. A week later, there was another meeting, during another detail, in which the victim said he was still in fear of the Colombians. He offered to settle the debt with a $5,000 cash payment and "three gadgets" — a cryptic reference to three kilograms (6.6 pounds) of cocaine. At another meeting, however, Ortiz said the Colombians didn't like the terms and wanted 4 kilos and $10,000 to settle the debt. The businessman handed Ortiz another $2,000. Two weeks later, on April 19, another meeting took place during a police detail. Ortiz accepted another $2,000 cash and gave the businessman instructions on how to deliver the drugs by leaving them in his car. The two men spoke again on April 30 and May 1 to set up a meeting for the transaction. On May 2, the two men met in a parking lot in Revere, where Ortiz showed up in full uniform. The businessman opened the trunk of his car and showed Ortiz a bag of cocaine and the $4,000 in cash he still "owed" the Colombians. He then handed the keys to Ortiz, who was immediately arrested by an FBI SWAT team.
A search of Ortiz's police locker after his arrest turned up more than $7,000 in cash, including some of the money the businessman had paid him. 11-year sentence Ortiz was sentenced to 135 months, or 11 years and three months, to be followed by five years of supervised release, by U.S. District Court Judge Rya Zobel.
Among the conditions of his probation are that he can never be in possession of a gun and must submit a DNA sample. Ortiz came to the United States from the Dominican Republic and became a citizen in 1982. He had worked for the Boston Police Department since 1986, but his tenure was marked by numerous suspensions, according to the FBI affidavit. U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan called the case "among the most egregious" of a series of recent prosecutions of corrupt Boston police officers.
"To have a uniformed officer, carrying his badge and weapon, extort money on behalf of a Colombian drug ring cuts at the heart of our system of justice," Sullivan said in a press release announcing the sentence. The case was prosecuted by John McNeil, the same federal prosecutor who has been involved in the case of former Swampscott police officer Thomas

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