Six cops charged with robbery, kidnapping, extortion
By Jeremy Roebuck Mark Fazlollah and Aubrey Whelan, The Philadelphia Inquirer | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Federal prosecutors set out to change that Wednesday, laying out a sprawling racketeering case against six of the unit's former members. The charges paint them as rogue cops running roughshod over the rights of their targets, confident that few would believe anyone who dared complain.
As the years went on, the 26-count indictment suggests, Officers
Between
Targets who resisted, prosecutors say, were dangled over balconies, threatened with the seizure of their homes, held in dank hotel rooms for days, or beaten as the officers kept score on who could inflict the most debilitating injuries.
Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, Police Commissioner
"Words just don't describe the degree to which their acts have brought discredit," he said. He blamed the city's contract with its officers for his inability to transfer the six officers years earlier, despite suspicions that emerged as early as 2005.
Their arrests, during predawn raids Wednesday, threaten to throw dozens of their past cases into doubt and reopen a pipeline of civil rights lawsuits from suspects they arrested that has already cost the city at least
"Our clients have been waiting for this day for some time now," said
Lawyers for the six officers denied the allegations against their clients at an initial appearance Wednesday in federal court. All of the officers entered not-guilty pleas to charges including racketeering conspiracy, civil rights violations, robbery, and extortion, and were ordered held without bond pending a hearing scheduled for Monday.
U.S. Attorney
"My client is a good, decent family man, presumed innocent by law,"
Some of those arrested Wednesday have been fighting similar allegations for years. Ramsey benched four of the officers in 2012 amid the widening federal investigation.
Federal and city prosecutors had for years refused to take cases involving some of the six, saying that frequent complaints lodged against them undermined their credibility in court.
An attorney representing an accused drug dealer specifically raised concerns in
Two years later, the
More than 14 Internal Affairs complaints against Liciardello and Reynolds alleged illegal searches or false arrests, but nearly all were found to be unsubstantiated.
In the midst of the scrutiny, Liciardello, Reynolds, and a third member of the unit,
Pileggi's insurance company settled the case for a relatively small sum. But in an interview Wednesday, the lawyer said all of the allegations in his client's lawsuits "came to fruition [in the federal case] -- beating up, false arrests, stealing."
The key to unlocking the current case came from one of their own, law enforcement sources said. Walker, a 24-year veteran of the force, became a key cooperator after pleading guilty in February to federal robbery and gun charges.
He told a federal judge he planted nearly 28 grams of cocaine in a
In the months after his arrest, Walker identified dozens of other incidents involving his former colleagues, which federal investigators used to build their case, authorities said.
They include a
Walker told authorities that Liciardello ordered him and his partner, Norman, to do whatever it took to get a password to the man's PalmPilot, so Norman hoisted him over an 18th-floor balcony until he gave in.
Other officers stole more than
Though court filings Wednesday identified the group's alleged targets only by initials, several people have previously spoken out about their run-ins with the narcotics officers.
According to Wednesday's indictment, Liciardello reported less than
He has since sued the officers and accused them of planting methamphetamine in his shop to justify their assault. All charges against him were later dropped.
He has since sued the officers, saying Liciardello, Reynolds, and Spicer illegally raided his
Prosecutors said Wednesday that the crew recorded in police reports only about
Carobine's lawsuit and at least 60 others arising from the squad's actions have been put on hold by a judge.
Over the course of seven years, authorities say, the crew, led by Liciardello, plundered Rolexes, iPods, a
"That many of the victims were drug dealers, not
Ramsey suspended the six officers Wednesday for 30 days with intent to dismiss.
If convicted on all counts, all the officers except Speiser face up to life in prison. For Speiser, the maximum term is 40 years.
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@jeremyrroebuck
Contributing to this article were Inquirer staff writers
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