Dealer amuses narcotics squad trial with tale of stolen Rolex

West Philadelphia marijuana dealer Victor Rosario had a taste for luxury living, and he knew what he liked: Tiffany jewelry, flashy watches, Louis Vuitton accessories.

So when a narcotics officer showed up at his 2010 court hearing with a $5,700 Rolex on his wrist, Rosario recognized it immediately.

"To say it was mine for sure, I'd have to look at the serial number," he told a federal jury Wednesday. "But it was exactly the same. Definitely the same styling, 100 percent."

That watch - and whether it was the one that Rosario said disappeared after a 2010 raid on his home - became the central question Wednesday as the 36-year-old testified in the corruption trial of six members of an elite narcotics squad.

Prosecutors have accused Officer Brian Reynolds of pocketing the pricey bauble - just one of a string of thefts of cash and personal property they say he and colleagues Thomas Liciardello, Michael Spicer, Perry Betts, Linwood Norman, and John Speiser carried out during their time on the Narcotics Field Unit.

Rosario told jurors that after he spotted the watch on Reynolds' wrist outside Courtroom 701 at the Criminal Justice Center, the officer tapped its face and mouthed thank you.

But defense attorneys said they, too, had reason to recognize the Rolex. Reynolds had been wearing it in family photos dating back years. And unlike Rosario, they have said, Reynolds has documentation to prove his purchase.

"My client bought that Rolex on Oct. 6, 2007, and borrowed $4,000 from the Philadelphia Police and Fire Credit Union to buy it," Jack McMahon, Reynolds' attorney, said last month in his opening statement to jurors. "That's how you verify. That's how you do investigations."

Rosario's testimony came as prosecutors sped toward concluding their case, which they expect to wrap up this week.

Three other government witnesses Wednesday accused the officers of seizing and failing to report everything from cash from drug deals to money earned through workers' compensation.

But it was Rosario - who told his story with a thick British accent and a defiant smirk on his face - who alternately captivated and incensed the courtroom.

At one point, U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno halted proceedings, as the drug dealer accused Speiser of winking at him as he testified, and a supporter in the gallery of making threatening gestures.

"I just feel very threatened right now," Rosario said with a grin. "I don't have animosity toward anyone in the room."

The Rolex was just one of the items Rosario accused officers of stealing after his arrest during a delivery of 10 pounds of marijuana to an informant working with police. Also gone, he said, was Tiffany jewelry he kept in his house, $5,000 stolen from his person, and an additional $8,700, payment from a construction job, that he had hidden underneath the dashboard of his car.

Much of the paperwork surrounding his arrest also appeared suspicious, Rosario told jurors. Receipts of seized property showed only $1,858 in cash seized.

What's more, the officers' search-warrant application said Rosario agreed to cooperate immediately, and told officers he had 12 pounds of marijuana and a handgun in his home.

Both items were later found in the St. Bernard Street house, but Rosario said Wednesday that he never directed the officers to drugs or even gave them his address.

McMahon balked as his cross-examination began.

"Do you have any explanation then for how they knew there was a gun and 12 pounds of marijuana in the house before they got a warrant?" the lawyer asked. Rosario shot back: "Yeah, they was already inside."

Jeffrey Walker, one of the narcotics squad's former members, who has since turned government witness, testified last week that he and his colleagues often began their searches without warrants and only obtained them as they were concluding their raids.

As Rosario recalled it, Reynolds asked him for the alarm code to his house while booking him into custody.

"How would they know I had an alarm unless they were already inside?" the dealer wondered.

Asked by McMahon to explain the other items officers found - including a bulletproof vest and photos of Rosario brandishing the firearm - the dealer said he had borrowed the vest from a friend after two neighbors were murdered.

As for the photos, he replied: "It's the United States of America. Isn't one of the amendments to own a firearm?"

But it was another set of pictures Rosario had a harder time explaining - the family photos of Reynolds with his children, wearing the Rolex on his wrist.

Confronted with the images, Rosario laughed.

"I didn't say he took it," he said. "I said it was the same kind of watch."

Testimony is expected to resume Thursday.