LogicSoDeveloped
Bluelighter
THE IDEA to start selling heroin apparently wasn't dumb enough in the mind of young Philly cop Jonathan Garcia.
The 23-year-old had to go and do it on duty.
In uniform.
Across the street from the district headquarters where he was assigned in Point Breeze.
That's the way federal authorities tell it in an arrest affidavit that paints Garcia as a small-time heroin dealer leading a double life. The three-year veteran sometimes met with a confidential FBI informant near the 17th Police District building to sell him packets of the brown powder stamped with names like "Lacoste," "D&G" and "pussy cat," the affidavit said.
Garcia was arrested by the FBI Tuesday night at his house on Sedgley Avenue near K Street in Kensington and he was charged Wednesday with four counts of distributing heroin and two counts of carrying a firearm during a drug-trafficking crime. The firearm was the department-issued Glock 9mm semiautomatic pistol that Garcia had tucked into its holster.
Garcia is at least the 43rd Philadelphia police officer to be charged criminally since 2009, including 10 for alleged drug offenses.
On Wednesday, Garcia appeared in green prison jumpers before U.S. Magistrate Timothy Rice and pleaded not guilty to the charges. He is being held at the Federal Detention Center in Center City pending a bail hearing on Friday. Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said he would suspend Garcia for 30 days with intent to dismiss.
Speaking for Ramsey, who was unavailable for comment, Lt. Ray Evers said: "He's not happy and neither are the men and women who work for this department. It's a disgrace."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Brenner said Garcia is a threat to the community, and the feds will seek his pretrial detention. Authorities say the investigation is continuing.
But defense attorney Scott DiClaudio said he would seek release on bail or house arrest.
"He's never been accused of any crime before this. There's no allegation of any violence," said DiClaudio, who added that his client has denied the charges. "He's not a threat to the community or a flight risk."
The arrest affidavit does not indicate how Garcia initially hooked up with the informant, but it alleges numerous meetings between them.
http://articles.philly.com/2012-06-21/news/32336494_1_heroin-affidavit-face-new-charges
followed up with...
The 23-year-old had to go and do it on duty.
In uniform.
Across the street from the district headquarters where he was assigned in Point Breeze.
That's the way federal authorities tell it in an arrest affidavit that paints Garcia as a small-time heroin dealer leading a double life. The three-year veteran sometimes met with a confidential FBI informant near the 17th Police District building to sell him packets of the brown powder stamped with names like "Lacoste," "D&G" and "pussy cat," the affidavit said.
Garcia was arrested by the FBI Tuesday night at his house on Sedgley Avenue near K Street in Kensington and he was charged Wednesday with four counts of distributing heroin and two counts of carrying a firearm during a drug-trafficking crime. The firearm was the department-issued Glock 9mm semiautomatic pistol that Garcia had tucked into its holster.
Garcia is at least the 43rd Philadelphia police officer to be charged criminally since 2009, including 10 for alleged drug offenses.
On Wednesday, Garcia appeared in green prison jumpers before U.S. Magistrate Timothy Rice and pleaded not guilty to the charges. He is being held at the Federal Detention Center in Center City pending a bail hearing on Friday. Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said he would suspend Garcia for 30 days with intent to dismiss.
Speaking for Ramsey, who was unavailable for comment, Lt. Ray Evers said: "He's not happy and neither are the men and women who work for this department. It's a disgrace."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Brenner said Garcia is a threat to the community, and the feds will seek his pretrial detention. Authorities say the investigation is continuing.
But defense attorney Scott DiClaudio said he would seek release on bail or house arrest.
"He's never been accused of any crime before this. There's no allegation of any violence," said DiClaudio, who added that his client has denied the charges. "He's not a threat to the community or a flight risk."
The arrest affidavit does not indicate how Garcia initially hooked up with the informant, but it alleges numerous meetings between them.
http://articles.philly.com/2012-06-21/news/32336494_1_heroin-affidavit-face-new-charges
followed up with...
