Former Camden police officer Jason Stetser pleads guilty in corruption case

A former Camden police officer admitted Tuesday that he planted drugs, made false arrests, and lied on reports as part of a rogue police operation that has compromised narcotics arrests spanning more than two years.

Jason Stetser, 32, of Waterford Township, appeared in U.S. District Court in Camden, where he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deprive others of their civil rights. He is the second of five suspected officers to plead guilty to running the citywide operation from May 2007 to October 2009.

Fellow Camden officer Kevin Parry, 29, appeared in court in March, and stated for the first time publicly that he and others had conducted illegal searches, planted evidence, and falsified reports.

The federal investigation has so far led to criminal charges being dismissed or overturned in more than 200 cases, with many defendants being released from prison, said Camden County Prosecutor Warren Faulk, who attended Tuesday's hearing.

"We overcompensated because we lost confidence in the evidence. I'm still convinced the vast majority of arrests were good arrests, but we can't prove it," Faulk said.

Of those released, 23 people have been arrested again, according to authorities.

There is no indication, Faulk said, that the scandal spread beyond the five men assigned to a supplemental squad that patrolled areas plagued by high crime and drug trafficking.

"Jason Stetser betrayed those whose rights he violated, the public he was sworn to protect, and all of the honest police officers who risk everything to keep us safe," U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said Tuesday in a written statement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Smith confirmed Tuesday that the investigation was ongoing. He said he could not discuss details.

The corruption scandal has left financially struggling Camden, which has one of the highest crime rates in the nation, bracing for dozens of lawsuits against the department of about 400 members.

The level of police corruption in Camden is "deeply problematic" given the size of the force, said Eugene O'Donnell, a former New York police officer and assistant district attorney who is now a criminal-justice professor at the John Jay Institute in New York.

"There's obviously a need for sweeping reform there," O'Donnell said.

"In Camden, it's a particularly urgent matter where you're trying to bring the city back to life," he said, adding that corruption empowers criminals and erodes the public's trust in police.

Stetser, the son of a former Camden police officer, joined the department in 2003 and was known on the street as "Fat Face." He had a reputation for aggressively going after drug dealers.

Stetser's father, Jim, who retired in 1989 after 20 years on the force, said Tuesday that his son had a positive impact in the community by taking narcotics dealers off the street.

The drug trade is so pervasive in Camden that its leaders have the clout to go after officers, Jim Stetser said.

"No one has yet to say that anyone, other than criminals, mostly career criminals, was affected by this. I would never have thought that the drug dealers were this strong politically," the elder Stetser said.

What Jason Stetser did "may not have been perfect by the letter of the law, but it was done with good intent to benefit the citizens of the city of Camden," his father said.

"Something went wrong with his direction," Jim Stetser said. But "he didn't come into the city with all these bright ideas on how to do these things. He was taught."

Appearing before U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler on Tuesday, Jason Stetser said little except to politely respond, "Yes, sir," to most questions. He appeared with his attorney, Frederick W. Klepp of Cherry Hill.

Court documents detail 11 instances of Stetser and the other officers illegally searching homes and cars. At times, they kept money that should have been logged as evidence. Other times, they held back drugs, mostly crack and powder cocaine, to plant on other suspects.

Stetser said in court that he had threatened Camden residents who would not cooperate, and that he had traded drugs for information from informants, some of whom were prostitutes.

Parry and Stetser, a senior officer who trained Parry, both testified they kept drugs stashed at various locations in the city and retrieved them when they needed to plant evidence.

In one instance, Parry and Stetser said, they raided a home and told a resident he could leave. They later charged him with drug offenses and wrote false reports that he fled, discarding drugs along the way.

Stetser and Parry have been suspended without pay and can never be public officials again. They face up to 10 years in prison. They remain free, with bail set at $100,000 for each. Parry is scheduled for sentencing in December; Stetser is scheduled for October.

Two officers alleged to have been a part of the operation, Antonio Figueroa and Robert Bayard, are suspended without pay. A supervisor who is under investigation, Sgt. Dan Morris, retired in January.

The investigation of the rogue unit began within the Camden Police Department in the summer of 2008, shortly after Camden Chief Scott Thomson was appointed. The investigation later was turned over to the FBI.

Thomson said Tuesday that the community has been supportive of efforts to clean up the department.

"The vast majority of our cops are as honest as the day is long," he said. "They put their lives on the line every day, and they're incensed that this was going on."