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A crooked ex-cop claims he framed drug dealers and shook down suspects for cash as part of a dirty Philadelphia narcotics squad.
Jeffrey Walker, 46, recounted stunning tales of corruption and abuse while testifying against his former colleagues.
Federal prosecutors claim six members of the elite unit planted drugs, roughed up dealers and pocketed up to $110,000 at a time from bogus busts.
Walker, tall and imposing, worked as one of the squad’s henchman to push around monied bad guys, he said.
The heavy-handed officer agreed to snitch on his former partners after the FBI caught him stealing $15,000 during a 2013 drug bust.
PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Ex-Philadelphia narcotics cop Jeffrey Walker testified against his former co-workers, claiming they routinely stole drug money and planted evidence.
Squad members publicly were darlings of the Philly police force, piling up arrests and confiscating mounds of drugs that made for good news conference photos.
“They like that, as far as the bosses were concerned,” Walker told jurors on Tuesday. “It made them look good. It was nothing but a dog-and-pony show.”
In reality, they were bullies of the underworld, padding three-figure salaries with as much stolen cash as they could carry — often literally, Walker said.
He described lugging a safe full of money down 17 flights of stairs to dodge security cameras.
They often picked on “college-boy... khaki-pants types” as easy targets for shake downs, splitting the stolen cash between themselves, Walker said.
He claimed the squad’s leader, Thomas Liciardello, took a cut on every crooked deal and threatened him when he learned he was talking to investigators.
Prosecutors showed jurors text messages Liciardello allegedly sent Walker.
“Your now a rat I hope you die,” Liciardo is accused of writing. “I will have you locked up by midnight. Goodbye loner.”
AP
Indicted ex-members of a Philadelphia Police Department drugs squad from top left to right: Officers Thomas Liciardello, Brian Reynolds, Michael Spicer, and from bottom left to right, Perry Betts, Linwood Norman and John Speiser.
“You will be in jail before me,” Walker wrote back.
The case has been a disaster for the police department.
The courts have overturned more than 160 convictions from the squad’s drug busts.
Supposed victims of the illicit raids have filed 39 federal lawsuits against Walker and the city, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Walker was facing a life sentence for the 2013 arrest but hopes his cooperation will persuade a judge to let him off easy.
He actually said that he comitted "thousands of crimes" and lied on reports "too many times to count"
A crooked ex-cop claims he framed drug dealers and shook down suspects for cash as part of a dirty Philadelphia narcotics squad.
Jeffrey Walker, 46, recounted stunning tales of corruption and abuse while testifying against his former colleagues.
Federal prosecutors claim six members of the elite unit planted drugs, roughed up dealers and pocketed up to $110,000 at a time from bogus busts.
Walker, tall and imposing, worked as one of the squad’s henchman to push around monied bad guys, he said.
The heavy-handed officer agreed to snitch on his former partners after the FBI caught him stealing $15,000 during a 2013 drug bust.
PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Ex-Philadelphia narcotics cop Jeffrey Walker testified against his former co-workers, claiming they routinely stole drug money and planted evidence.
Squad members publicly were darlings of the Philly police force, piling up arrests and confiscating mounds of drugs that made for good news conference photos.
“They like that, as far as the bosses were concerned,” Walker told jurors on Tuesday. “It made them look good. It was nothing but a dog-and-pony show.”
In reality, they were bullies of the underworld, padding three-figure salaries with as much stolen cash as they could carry — often literally, Walker said.
He described lugging a safe full of money down 17 flights of stairs to dodge security cameras.
They often picked on “college-boy... khaki-pants types” as easy targets for shake downs, splitting the stolen cash between themselves, Walker said.
He claimed the squad’s leader, Thomas Liciardello, took a cut on every crooked deal and threatened him when he learned he was talking to investigators.
Prosecutors showed jurors text messages Liciardello allegedly sent Walker.
“Your now a rat I hope you die,” Liciardo is accused of writing. “I will have you locked up by midnight. Goodbye loner.”
AP
Indicted ex-members of a Philadelphia Police Department drugs squad from top left to right: Officers Thomas Liciardello, Brian Reynolds, Michael Spicer, and from bottom left to right, Perry Betts, Linwood Norman and John Speiser.
“You will be in jail before me,” Walker wrote back.
The case has been a disaster for the police department.
The courts have overturned more than 160 convictions from the squad’s drug busts.
Supposed victims of the illicit raids have filed 39 federal lawsuits against Walker and the city, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Walker was facing a life sentence for the 2013 arrest but hopes his cooperation will persuade a judge to let him off easy.
He actually said that he comitted "thousands of crimes" and lied on reports "too many times to count"
