Fired cop, 34, pleads guilty to drug charges

Alhinde Weems yesterday admitted that he was a dirty, drug-dealing cop, with a stash of weapons including a homemade silencer.

The 34-year-old Weems, who was fired as an officer in West Philadelphia's 18th District, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joel Slomsky to two counts of drug distribution: He sold one ounce of crack cocaine for $1,300 on Dec. 17, 2008, and two ounces for $2,400 last Jan. 14.

At his change-of-plea hearing, Weems also admitted to one count each of attempting to possess cocaine, attempting to interfere with commerce by robbery and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence.

At sentencing on May 3, he could get up to life in prison and an $8.5 million fine. If given a lesser prison sentence, he could get a lifetime of supervised release. If he violates his supervised release, he would be returned to prison to complete his sentence, which could be increased by three to five years for each count.

Earlier, federal authorities said that Weems had been a drug dealer before he joined the police force on Nov. 3, 2003, and continued peddling drugs as a $62,330-a-year police officer.

But his drug-dealing days abruptly ended last March 27, when agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI arrested Weems, armed with his police service revolver, and his brother-in-law in a three-month sting operation, described in a plea memo.

After selling drugs to an informant, Weems bought and transported what he believed was a $30,000 kilo of cocaine from Maryland on behalf of someone who he thought was a high-ranking drug dealer but was actually an undercover agent. Weems was paid $500; sham cocaine was used in the sting.

Having proven his worth to the so-called "high-level drug dealer," Weems began planning a home invasion to steal thousands of dollars in cash and millions of dollars of cocaine.

Weems met four times over a month with an informant and an undercover agent who taped the conversations, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria M. Carrillo, who read his plea memo to the judge.

He recruited co-conspirators, assigned them jobs, such as entering the home, being a look-out or getaway driver, and proposed "badging" his way into the home - flashing his police badge.

He even offered to bring weapons, including silencers and four firearms, and to use duct tape or flex cuffs on any occupants in the house. He planned to act like a detective, and even wear his police uniform.

As part of his plea, Weems, who is not cooperating with authorities, must forfeit three semiautomatic handguns, a 12-gauge shotgun, a magazine for a semiautomatic handgun and ammunition for eight weapons.

After his arrest, agents confiscated the weapons and ammunition at his Olney home, where he lived with his wife and four children, ages 3 to 13.