Nation - New Jersey Cop at center of wrongdoing probe pleads guilty

By Geoff Mulvihill Associated Press Writer CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) -- A Camden police officer pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to deprive others of their civil rights, becoming the second officer to face prison time for a campaign of planting drugs on suspects, paying informants with cocaine and engaging in other police wrongdoing in one of the nation's most crime-ridden cities. Jason Stetser faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 when he's sentenced on Oct. 7. The 32-year-old officer also must resign from the police job he's held since 2003, and can never again work as a public servant in New Jersey. Stetser and three other officers were suspended last year amid a federal investigation into police wrongdoing. A fifth officer has since retired. Only Stetser and Patrolman Kevin Parry, who Stetser trained, have been charged. Parry also has pleaded guilty. Prosecutors say there's no evidence other Camden police officers were involved in wrongdoing. With the investigation, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office reviewed more than 400 cases in which any of the five officers were involved. More than 200 cases were dismissed, Prosecutor Warren Faulk said. As Stetser policed the streets, people in the troubled Waterfront South neighborhood of the city knew him as "Fat Face," an intimidating cop who was not to be messed with. Residents have said that while crime is a problem, the police were even more frightful there. In court Tuesday, Stetser had traded his police blues for a charcoal suit. He still sported the close-cropped haircut of a police officer and answered questions from U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler with a respectful: "Yes, sir." In May 2007, Stetser was assigned to the 4th Platoon, a division of the city's police force with wide latitude to make drug busts all over the city. In court, he admitted that between then and when he was suspended in October 2009, he held back drugs -- mostly crack cocaine -- taken in seizures. He planted the drugs on some suspects to increase the amount confiscated or to build cases against people who did not have drugs in their possession. Stetser said other drugs went to pay informants, many of them prostitutes, for information. He also admitted to keeping cash taken in searches, conducting searches without warrants, and lying in official reports and court testimony. The judge, who did not admonish Stetser for breaking the law, asked about specific cases he handled as an officer. Among the cases dropped, Faulk said he believes most of the suspects were criminals, but without credible police testimony the charges could not be supported. Several convicted drug dealers were released from prison as a result of police corruption. Twenty-three defendants cleared have since been re-arrested, Faulk said. Civil lawsuits also have been rolling in against the city and police officers in the case. Published: Thu, Jul 1, 2010

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