Feds Say Ex-Cop Tartaglione Had Phone In Jail

BRIARCLIFF, NY — Former Briarcliff police officer who is awaiting trial in the killing of four men in Orange County was found to be in possession of an illicit cellphone while in federal custody, court records show. Correction officers took the phone from Nicholas Tartaglione July 3 in his lower Manhattan cell.

The former cop told officials that his cellmate tossed the phone to him as officers approached, according to the Journal News.

Federal prosecutors said they were anticipating getting a search warrant to examine the phone.

Tartaglione was arrested in December 2016 and was accused of killing Martin Luna, Urbano Santiago, Miguel Luna and Hector Gutierrez. The men were last seen April 11, 2016, in a Chester, Orange County, bar.

The 2016 indictment said that Tartaglione and others conspired to sell cocaine, and in April 2016, participated in killing the four men, some of whom were in the wrong place at the wrong time, according to authorities.

He was charged with four counts of murder in furtherance of a narcotics conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine.

The murder counts carry a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison or the death penalty.

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