By Craig Anderson

Delaware State Police have contacted motorists they believe were impacted by a now-indicted trooper’s E-Warning issuances and are looking for others possibly affected, authorities said Tuesday.

The Delaware Attorney General’s Office said Cpl. Edwin R. Ramirez was charged after a DSP internal review uncovered “a serious pattern of fraudulent E-Warnings issued” by the trooper. DSP contacted the AG’s Division of Civil Rights & Public Trust in May.

According to the AG, Cpl. Ramirez allegedly issued more than 30 “phantom” E-Warnings in April and E-Tickets were issued with the motorists' knowledge.

Drivers issued the supposedly false warnings have had that information removed from the driver records database, DSP spokesman Master Cpl. Gary Fournier said.

The search for potentially affected motorists will continue through the Delaware Criminal Justice Information System, and authorities are “(researching) the information (in) their database in order to locate any other motorist who may have been impacted.”

Cpl. Ramirez faces charges of tampering with public records in the first degree (class E felony), issuing a false certificate (class G Felony), falsifying business records (class A misdemeanor) and official misconduct (class A misdemeanor).

If convicted on all charges, he faces a statutory maximum sentence of nine years in prison.

The trooper was placed on administrative leave with pay and benefits in May pending the outcome of the case, Cpl. Fournier said. The indictment said he was assigned to Troop 9 in Odessa.

Mat Marshall, a spokesman for the attorney general, said Tuesday that it was unknown “at this time” when the alleged operation was believed to have started.

“Today’s indictment is specific to the April 2021 sample of confirmed conduct, but, as we note, a fuller investigation is ongoing,” he said.

Asked if any further charges were possible, Mr. Marshall said, “Depending on any further findings in the investigation, yes, though we’d decline to speculate on the specifics at this time.”

No bond or bail was currently in place, Mr. Marshall added.

“As with most DCRPT indictments, we’re proceeding a little differently than in a typical criminal case, in that we indict before arrest rather than after,” he said.

“Ramirez has not yet turned himself in; a bail hearing would follow.”

The AG’s office and DSP asked anyone who thinks they may have been impacted by Cpl. Ramirez’s alleged actions to email DCRPT at publictrust@delaware.gov or contact DSP through the agency’s customer satisfaction survey at research.net/r/DSP1-CSS.

In a news release Tuesday, Attorney General Kathy Jennings said “these victims deserve an apology for getting wrapped up in this ridiculous scheme.”

“This kind of ham-fisted misconduct undermines the work that good police officers do every day to earn and honor the public’s trust. The accolades that this Trooper misappropriated are not worth the felony charges he’s now facing. Traffic stops should be about road safety, not padding performance reviews, and we’re grateful to DSP for doing the right thing as soon as they uncovered the criminal activity.”

According to DSP Superintendent Col. Melissa Zebley, “The Delaware State Police values our relationship with the public and as demonstrated in the case, have policies in place to evaluate and investigate all incidents of misconduct.

“We are an organization that recognizes while fulfilling our sacred mission to protect and serve the public, we must also hold our own members accountable for any actions that jeopardize public trust.”

While e-warnings do not carry a financial penalty, they do harm drivers. Motorists with e-warnings are less likely to be given consideration in future traffic encounters with police and more likely to be stopped in the first place, the AG said.

The news release said that following the internal investigation, a DSP investigator received a search warrant for Cpl. Ramirez’s police car and recovered a sheet kept by Cpl. Ramirez displaying Troop 9’s troopers and their productivity statistics, along with his own 2019 and 2020 yearly evaluations which included commendations for traffic productivity.

On Feb. 2, 2021, Cpl. Ramirez was recognized as the recipient of the 2020 Troop 9 Traffic Ace award. In a performance commendation, Cpl. Ramirez’s captain noted that he issued 458 traffic citations and 640 traffic e-warnings in 2020.

DCRPT continues to investigate the full extent of Cpl. Ramirez’s potential misconduct outside of April 2021.