Former Philadelphia cop sentenced to 30 years

A former Philadelphia police officer convicted of robbing a drug dealer and participating in a home invasion was sentenced today to 30 years in prison.

The rogue cop, Malik Snell, was denounced by the judge, prosecutors and city officials. The police commissioner sent a letter promising to melt Snell's badge "into a lump of metal."

Snell, who spent four years in the Marines and then nearly eight as a Philadelphia cop, sobbed as he asked for lesser sentence, but U.S. District Court Judge R. Barclay Surrick said he was deliberately exceeding federal guidelines.

"It is very difficult for this court to work up any compassion for you," Surrick said, noting Snell had perjured himself "over and over again" and never explicitly acknowledged his crimes.

Snell was found guilty in June of conspiracy, attempted robbery and a weapons charge, all stemming from a failed home invasion in Pottstown.

He was also convicted of stealing $40,000 in cash, hidden in a diaper bag, from Ricardo McKendrick Jr., a South Philadelphia drug kingpin. The incident occured while Snell was in uniform. Surrick said he believed Snell had robbed other drug dealers.

Snell was discharged from police force in 2008; the incidents occurred in 2007 while he was assigned to the 18th District in West Philadelphia. Two earlier trials had ended in hung juries.

Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey's comment came in a written letter. He had been scheduled to appear in court to ask for "the harshest penalty possible," but prosecutors said a flight delay and traffic jams prevented that.

"The badge he dishonored will be destroyed . . . melted into a lump of metal," Ramsey wrote.

Ramsey noted that when an officer is killed in the line of duty, that badge number is "permanently retired . . . as a final honor to these fallen heroes."

But in Snell's case, Ramsey said he was "acting out of disgust."