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Former Frankfort Village Police officer pleads guilty to illegally seizing phone records of colleague

By WKTV News

Story Created: Apr 10, 2012 at 4:17 PM EDT

Story Updated: Apr 10, 2012 at 6:09 PM EDT

HERKIMER, N.Y. (WKTV) - A former Frankfort Village Police officer has pleaded guilty to illegally seizing the phone records of a fellow officer.

Herkimer County District Attorney Jeff Carpenter said that Daniel Herrman pleaded guilty in Herkimer County Court on Monday to the felony charge of forgery and misdemeanor charge of official misconduct.

Herrman was accused of seizing the phone records of Samuel Ameduri III, an officer who accused the then-police chief Steven Conley of choking him during an argument.

Previously, Herrman had claimed that Ameduri had been making violent threats against people and that the cell phone records were important to look into those threats. Herrman claims he was looking into the records at the request of Frankfort Mayor Frank Morocco.

The request for the records came after Ameduri, who denies threatening anyone, accused the then-Chief of Police Steve Conley of choking him during a February 2010 argument.

Since Herrman entered what's known as an "Alford" plea, he was able to plead guilty without having to divulge any details of why he did what he did. He will not face jail time, and faces five years of probation when sentenced.

He still faces unrelated charges in Oneida County for allegedly possessing an unregistered .40 caliber Glock pistol. New York State Police say that pistol is the property of the Frankfort Police Department, and that it was reported stolen.

A trial date on that charge has been set for April 30.

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