Two NYPD Officers Agree to Plea Agreement

YONKERS

Two New York City police officers charged in connection with a fight two years ago outside two McLean Avenue bars have struck a plea agreement to avoid a trial.

The officers had faced charges of official misconduct and were scheduled to go on trial in Yonkers City Court next month.

Instead, New York City Police Officers Jeffrey Alicea and Stella Ibanez pleaded guilty Wednesday to disorderly conduct, a violation, and the misdemeanor official misconduct charges were dropped, their attorneys, John D. Pappalardo of Scarsdale and John D. Patten of New York City, said yesterday.

The officers were accused of trying to cover up the involvement of a New York City police officer in a September 2007 fight in which a Yonkers man was seriously injured.

Ibanez and Alicea entered their pleas in Yonkers City Court before Judge Michael Martinelli, who fined both $75 and sentenced them to a conditional discharge.

Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for the Westchester County District Attorney's Office, said he could not comment on the cases against Alicea and Ibanez because they had been sealed.

Both officers are currently being paid by the department, but are on modified duty. Their lawyers said they hoped to return to regular work.

"We are hoping that she can keep her job," Pappalardo said of Ibanez. "She maintained her innocence all along."

The pleas leave three defendants with pending cases in the bar incident. NYPD Officer Michael McGhee, former NYPD Officer Thomas Wimmer and their friend Patrick Tully of the Bronx are scheduled to go to trial Jan. 26, said attorney Richard Murray, who represents Wimmer.

McGhee, Wimmer and Tully are accused of assaulting 26-year-old Peter Cummins in front of Fagan's Ale House and Rockin' Robins Bar and Night Club in a fight that allegedly started when Tully said something to the victim's girlfriend that she deemed derogatory. Cummins suffered severe facial injuries, authorities said.

The three defendants are each charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor.

The case is being prosecuted by the Westchester County District Attorney's Public Integrity Bureau.