A volunteer safety patrol member pleaded guilty to bribery charges in a scandal that has cast a dark cloud over New York City’s police department, admitting that he paid thousands of dollars to police officers to speed along gun permits.

An emotional Alex “Shaya” Lichtenstein, 44, of Pomona, New York, entered the plea to bribery charges in Manhattan federal court Thursday, saying he participated in the scam from 2013 to 2016, when he had “good and friendly relationships with New York City police officers.”