Ex-officer who aided abduction of man found dead gets prison

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — A former Massachusetts police officer whose badge, gun holster and handcuffs were used by two men who kidnapped another man later found dead has been sentenced to prison.

Delivered Thursday, a judge stayed Michael Schoener’s sentence of up to nine years pending appeal.

Schoener was convicted Wednesday of being an accessory before the fact in the January 2014 abduction of 37-year-old James Robertson from an Avon home. Schoener was a Dedham officer at the time.

Robertson’s body was found two years later in Upton, 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Avon.

Prosecutors say the men who kidnapped Robertson were posing as constables and “looked the part” because they had police equipment. The kidnappers took him to James Feeney, who was upset that Robertson was dating his ex-girlfriend. Feeney was convicted of murder.