In his first inter view since his re lease from prison, the former Marine and ex-cop added, "I was 31 when I was indicted. I'm now 41. I will never get those years back.
Schwarz has steadfastly main tained he did not lie in the cover- up of the Abner Louima torture case. Fellow cop Justin Volpe pleaded guilty – saying he and he alone perpetrated the assault – and was sentenced to a 30-year term.
Originally, Schwarz was sen tenced to 25 years for being part of the assault in a Brooklyn police sta tion house, but that sentence was thrown out on appeal.
But prosecutor Alan Vinegrad would not let it be, and he made a perjury conviction stick.
Let it be said loud and clear, I, after covering extensively a rat-in fested railroad trial, steadfastly maintain Schwarz's innocence.
Schwarz, released two months ago from a Minnesota federal prison to a halfway house, works five days a week as a day laborer. Released while pending a reduction in sentence, Chuck and his wife, Andra, conceived William Charles Ronan Schwarz.
Brother John is paralyzed, and Chuck chose the night shift as a cop so he could take his brother to therapy during the day. And then a riot broke out in a Brooklyn nightclub, Louima was arrested after a bloody fracas, and the bathroom in the 70th Precinct became the scene of a crime that made national news.
As he spoke, wife Andra was out shopping for the weekend apartment.
And throughout all this, his attorney Ron Fischetti has been a rock.
"It's been a long, hard and difficult time. We now just look toward the future," Fischetti said.