Thirty-five-year-old Alfonzo Cole and his fellow officer, 32-year-old Willie Sims, scheme to take more than $14,000 — along with drugs and guns — from at least six individuals between July of 2020 and July of 2021. They would commit their crimes while conducting routine traffic stops or searches of vehicles belonging to the unknowing victims, and in one instance they pulled over a man on his way to pay for a funeral and took $4,000 from his car. The 21-year-old reported the incident to police, and Cole and Sims were arrested the next day.
Cole and Sims each pleaded guilty last month to four counts of robbery and one count of theft in office. In exchange, several other charges such as aggravated theft (a first-degree felony) were dismissed, although Cole also pleaded guilty to two unrelated weapons charges. The pair were originally both set to be sentenced today, but 3News has confirmed Sims will be sentenced at a later date.
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Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Russo is set to hand down Cole’s punishment. 3News will stream the proceedings live both inside this story as well as on our YouTube page.
