Ex-Nassau DA investigator Dustin Genco sentenced to 3 months in prison for assaulting suspect

A former Nassau County District Attorney investigator who assaulted a handcuffed suspect while assigned to a drug task force was sentenced to three months in federal prison Thursday.

Dustin Genco, 52, of Seaford, pleaded guilty last August to depriving a drug suspect of his constitutional rights and agreed to forgo future employment in law enforcement in exchange for a lighter sentence. He must also pay a $10,000 fine.

The former officer admitted he lost his temper after chasing down a suspected fentanyl dealer in October 2022.

Genco and his partner tried to serve an arrest warrant on Frandi Ledema, 28, in the Bronx when the man fled, going out a sixth-floor window and down a fire escape to avoid being caught, according to federal prosecutors.

Genco caught up to Ledema and struggled to pin him down, but the investigator eventually placed Ledema in handcuffs with his arms behind his back and sat him on the sidewalk, authorities said. While the suspect was on the ground, Genco admitted being “very charged” over the struggle. Ledema yelled at him in Spanish, which Genco later learned was an apology. It was then that the former Nassau County investigator kicked Ledema in the chest and stomach and cursed at him, the U.S. Attorney’s office said in court papers. They said he would have struck the man again, but his partner intervened.

“In the moment, I was exhausted, out of breath, and I think I lost my temper,” Genco told the court during his pleading. “I think I was just trying to get him to shut up and comply with my instructions. Kicking him was wrong, it was unnecessary, and I'm sorry I did it.”

Genco never told his supervisors about the attack, though Ledema was hospitalized two days afterward and treated for abdominal pain and inflammation to the chest, officials said. The assault was caught on a surveillance camera, but when he was questioned about it, Genco lied to DEA investigators, telling them the suspect struggled after he was handcuffed. He told supervisors that he pushed Ledema down with his foot because he was resisting and joked about the career implications of the incident, prosecutors said.

He was eventually taken off the task force and forced to resign from the Nassau County District Attorney’s office in August 2022.

“​​When this office was made aware of the incident in question, the former detective investigator was removed from the task force and placed on modified duty, where he did not have any contact with the public,” district attorney spokesman Brendan Brosh said at the time. “Public trust in law enforcement is paramount and this office will aggressively investigate any claims of wrongdoing by police officers.”

According to Civilian Complaint Review Board records, he had 14 substantiated complaints against him by the public, including the use of force on a handcuffed suspect in 2007.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Genco’s conduct harms others in law enforcement.

“When an officer acts outside the law, he must be held to account in order to protect the rule of law and the public trust in the countless law-abiding officers and agents who put their own safety on the line every day,” Williams said in a statement.

Genco’s lawyer, Jim Walden, who represented the former investigator pro bono, submitted more than a hundred letters from co-workers and supervisors attesting to his character and dedication to his former job.

“Officer Dustin Genco had a legendary career,” Walden said. “The man was literally a superhero. He saved so many lives, he arrested so many bad guys. Today, it was a sad day that after that career he was sentenced to jail time. We believe in our hearts that he deserves to be on the streets with his family.”

Genco must surrender to serve his sentence June 17.