MIRAMAR, Fla. – Former Miramar police Officer Antonio Hester will not get any jail time for his conviction on charges of petty theft, filing a false police report and official misconduct.
The 10-year veteran, who stole two bottles of liquor while investigating a theft at a Walgreens in July 2014, was sentenced Friday to six months of probation.
According to a police report, Hester and another officer were conducting a grand theft investigation at a Walgreens at 2499 Southwest 101st Ave. in Miramar that led them to pull over three women accused of stealing from the store.
Police said Hester confiscated numerous items that belonged to Walgreens and liquor that belonged to another business. However, after returning the Walgreens items, Hester never completed a property receipt saying that he had returned two bottles of liquor to the store in which they were stolen, nor did he place the bottles into property and evidence, police said.
At Friday's hearing, the judge heard emotional testimony from family members about the father of three.
"I told Miramar police, I don't remember the sergeant's name. I said, 'I gave him to you whole. Now give him back to me whole,'" Hester's mother, Donna Hester, said through tears.
Antonio Hester also wept in court as he read a letter about the incident.
"To my family I say, mom, sorry for the embarrassment," Hester said.
After the judge handed down the sentence, Hester's family and friends said they were upset that he will have a felony on his record.
"It means no matter what, even when he fulfills the probation, he still has a sentence. That's a lifelong sentence," Hester's friend, Bishop Willard Scott, said.
Despite being convicted by a jury, Hester continues to proclaim his innocence.
"Well, I still maintain my innocence," Hester said. "I didn't do it. I don't drink. I've never drank and I have no purpose for stealing alcohol."
Hester said he cannot live with a felony on his record and will appeal the sentence.
He told Local 10 News that the incident's silver lining is that he will get to spend more time with his three daughters.