By
The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - Two former police officers are accused of holding up businesses, robbing drug dealers and conspiring to kill a detective in retaliation for his revealing that they had allegedly lied about a 1997 gun arrest.
The accusations were disclosed in court papers Tuesday against Jamil Jordan, 28, and Anthony Trotman, 35, former partners in a Brooklyn precinct that faced a police corruption scandal in the 1980s.
A criminal complaint said Trotman has told authorities that while still on the force in 1998, he and Jordan used a police computer to get the unnamed detective's home address, then tried to convince the leader of their robbery crew to go there and kill him. The plot apparently never went any further.
The partners were angry because the detective revealed in a 1997 hearing that he had directed them to a bodega to arrest a gun suspect without probable cause. The testimony contradicted the officers' story that they happened to be in the store by chance and noticed a hard object in the suspect's backpack.
The Police Department, after accusing Jordan and Trotman of perjury, fired them last year.
The case against Jordan was largely built on the word of Trotman, who agreed to cooperate with prosecutors after being indicted earlier this month in a $500,000 jewelry store heist. Trotman was expected to plead guilty on Wednesday.
Court papers also accuse Jordan and Trotman of staging holdups of businesses as well as robbing drug dealers, even while on duty. In one case, they pulled over a dealer, stole $2,100 and left him handcuffed to his car, the complaint said.
Jordan was charged in federal court Tuesday in connection with his part in the robbery crew. Authorities said Trotman has agreed to testify against Jordan and other alleged bandits as part of a plea deal.
Magistrate Marilyn Go ordered Jordan held without bail. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison.
"After he took an oath to protect the community, he committed violent crimes against that community," prosecutor Kelly Moore said while arguing against bail for Jordan.
Defense attorney Frank Handelman said the evidence against his client is weak, and denied he was dangerous. "He's never been arrested for anything," he said.
Fourteen years ago, a dozen officers in the same Brooklyn precinct were charged with robbing drug dealers and other crimes. Officials said the current case did not appear to be part of a wider pattern.
