Don’t lock me up, begs crooked cop

A former NYPD cop who embezzled over $400,000 from the Municipal Credit Union pleaded with a judge Wednesday to keep him out of jail, citing his charitable work for an Italian-American advocacy group the feds say was part of his scheme.

Joseph Guagliardo, 62, faces a recommended sentence of more than two years for fleecing the state’s largest credit union. An attorney for Guagliardo, a former member of the union’s supervisory committee, wrote in a letter filed in Manhattan Federal Court that his “misguided intent and motivation was, in large part, to financially benefit a true philanthropic organization, National Council of Columbia Associations in Civil Service.”

Prosecutors previously said Guagliardo used the National Council to steal $200,000 from the union representing more than 500,000 members. MCU paid that hefty sum for advertising on the group’s amateurish website.

Guagliardo admitted as part of his guilty plea that the website’s traffic did not warrant such a payment. He also copped to embezzling from the union through sham security services.

Attorney John

Arlia cited Guagliardo’s decades of volunteer work and charitable endeavors while arguing for leniency.

“I am remorseful for what I have done. I know that it was wrong and plead with the court that I have been punished enough and do not need prison to rehabilitate me or deter me from ever doing this again. I am so embarrassed to face my family and friends,” Guagliardo wrote.

The former cop was busted in connection with an ongoing investigation of corruption at MCU. Former CEO Kam Wong is serving a 5½-year sentence for embezzling $10 million from the credit union.

Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Sylvia Ash, who served on MCU’s board of directors, also faces obstruction of justice charges for allegedly deleting incriminating text messages and emails. She has pleaded not guilty.