MIAMI, Fla – For making traffic stops to steal from migrant workers then lying about it, convicted former Miami-Dade police detective William Kostopoulos wanted a sentence of probation, Miami Herald reports.

U.S. District Court Judge Marcia G. Cooke edged a little more toward the Justice Department’s desires when she gave Kostopoulos three years for deprivation of rights under color of law and tampering with a witness.

The government wanted a five-year sentence after successfully arguing that Kostopoulos violated the workers’ Fourth Amendment Constitutional rights against unreasonable seizure of property. He committed theft in a September 2013 traffic stop and attempted a similar theft in another stop a month later.

In their reasoning for a lighter sentence, Kostopoulos’ attorneys argued in their sentencing memorandum, he’s “a former Miami-Dade detective with a unique name. The publicity surrounding his arrest and subsequent conviction is not easily forgotten. It will be no secret that he is a former police officer leaving him highly susceptible to abuse by other inmates.”

Read Miami Herald’s complete story here.