Former Margate Officer Gets 20 Months in Jail in Sex Case
By Jeremy Milarsky, Staff Writer
Originally published in the Sun-Sentinel, March 5, 2002
A former Margate police officer pleaded guilty Monday to charges he had sex with a 16-year-old girl in the back of his patrol car after arresting her on drunken-driving charges almost a year ago.
Jeffrey S. Devine, 25, must serve 20 months in the Broward County Jail and, after his release, register as a sex offender with the state of Florida. He can never again be a law enforcement officer anywhere in the United States, according to the conditions of a plea deal with prosecutors.
He will also serve an additional 16 months of house arrest after he leaves jail, assuming he serves the full sentence. If he had gone to trial and been convicted, Devine could have faced a sentence of up to 30 years in prison.
Devine also may not have any contact with children during his 10-year probation as a sexual offender. There is only one exception: Devine will be able to speak with his own two children from his first marriage.
He said little Monday morning during a hearing in front of Broward Circuit Judge Peter Weinstein. As a court deputy took his fingerprints, Devine looked to his attorney, Larry S. Davis of Hollywood, and thumped his chest in a gesture of friendship.
"It was a very difficult case," Davis said after the hearing. "It was. He's a good man. What I really want to say is that Jeff takes responsibility for his actions and accepts the consequences."
Devine declined to comment.
Margate Police Chief Jerry Blough declined to comment on the case Monday.
Although his jail time is more than one year, Devine can serve his time in the Broward County Jail, and not a state prison, because he pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawfully having sex with a minor. The sentence for each count amounted to less than one year, but added up to 20 months.
The case has been delayed for several reasons since the incident on March 31. Devine was accused of arresting the girl, now 17, near Atlantic Boulevard and State Road 7, then having sex with her in the back seat of his patrol car while parked in a wooded area on the way to the North Broward Detention Center in Pompano Beach.
Originally Broward Circuit Judge Sheldon Schapiro presided over the case against Devine. But Schapiro recused himself in December, after the Judicial Qualifications Commission filed a complaint against him in which one of the witnesses is Assistant State Attorney Dennis Siegel, Devine's prosecutor.
In the months after Devine's arrest, the State Attorney's Office had to settle the issue of whether his victim would testify. Prosecutors have pressed the DUI charges against her from the March incident, and her defense attorneys had said she would not willingly testify against Devine unless those charges were dropped.
One of the girl's attorneys, Raymond Miller, said his client knew of the plea deal and agreed to its terms.
"She's obviously relieved that the case is over with," Miller said. "It's been tumultuous from the very beginning, and it was very traumatic for her."
Another attorney for the girl, Joseph Pappacoda, wrote a letter to Margate City Attorney Gene Steinfeld in April saying she will sue the city government in connection with the incident. She has not yet filed a lawsuit, however.
