Former Camden police officer sentenced to 10 years for stealing cash, drugs

A former Camden City police officer convicted of stealing cash and drugs, planting evidence, and lying to a grand jury was sentenced to 10 years in prison Friday by U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler.

Kugler also revoked bail for Antonio Figueroa, 36, and ordered the former member of an elite antidrug squad taken into custody.

Kugler said Figueroa and three other members of the squad awaiting sentencing "had shattered the community trust" in law enforcement and "cast a pall" over hundreds of honest police officers working in the city.

Several times during the 90-minute hearing, Kugler shook his head and said he could not understand what motivated Figueroa and the others.

The case has spawned dozens of lawsuits brought by defendants whose convictions were vacated or overturned after details of an FBI investigation into the corruption charges were made public - though several of those cleared have been rearrested on new charges, including one for homicide.

Figueroa fought back tears before sentencing as he offered an explanation for his actions.

Born and raised in Camden, he said he had seen the effect drugs had on the city and "on some of my own family members."

He told Kugler he became a police officer to combat that problem and that although he feared for his own safety when he took to the streets in uniform each day, "I was more afraid of what drugs were doing to the city of Camden. That's why I went into police work."

Ralph Jacobs, Figueroa's lawyer, described his client's actions as "misguided," but argued that the motivation was "an effort to get drugs and guns off the streets."

In asking for the maximum 10-year sentence, Deputy U.S. Attorney William Fitzpatrick, who prosecuted the case, said Figueroa "corrupted and perverted the justice system. . . . He had the trust of the community and he betrayed that trust."

Link:
Former Camden police officer sentenced to 10 years for stealing cash, drugs