Council OKs $1.35 Million for Man Arrested by Perez

The City Council on Wednesday approved a $1.35-million settlement for a man who claims he was framed on a drug charge by disgraced Los Angeles Police Officer Rafael Perez.

Russell E. Newman filed suit against the city in June, a month after his 1992 drug sales conviction was overturned by a Superior Court judge.

Newman, who spent more than seven years in prison, was convicted largely on the basis of Perez’s testimony. Perez has since pleaded guilty to stealing eight pounds of cocaine from LAPD evidence facilities and began blowing the whistle on alleged corruption in the Rampart Division in exchange for a lighter sentence.

Perez did not admit to wrongdoing in Newman’s 1991 arrest. In fact, the ex-officer claims that he did not commit any crimes or serious misconduct until he joined the Rampart Division’s anti-gang CRASH unit in 1995.