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185 drug cases dropped after Camden police probe

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By GEOFF MULVIHILL
Associated Press Writer

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) - Charges have been dropped or convictions vacated in 185 drug cases in one of the nation's most crime-ridden cities because information gathered in a criminal investigation of five police city officers suggests evidence could have been tainted, a prosecutor announced Friday.

One of the officers pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to conspiring with other officers to deprive others of their civil rights. Kevin Parry, who has resigned from the department, admitted he planted drugs on suspects, conducted illegal searches, threatened additional charges for suspects who refused to cooperate, stole drugs and money from suspects, and paid informants - many of them prostitutes - with drugs in exchange for information.

Friday's disclosure of the list of cases and Parry's plea represented the first time law enforcement have given any information about the cases since they began investigating in November.

At least four of the police officers were suspended then. Camden County Prosecutor Warren Faulk would not say whether the fifth was also removed from duty.

The prosecutor's office reviewed more than 400 cases over the last five years in which one of the five was the arresting or investigating officer, Faulk said. The suspected seemed to not have behaved inappropriately in some cases, such as domestic violence calls, Faulk said.

But in 185 cases involving more than 180 suspects, Faulk said there was reason to drop charges or vacate convictions. It's not clear how many people were released from jail because of the investigation, but 81 of them received prison or jail sentences.

Yvonne Smith Segars, who heads the state's public defender's office, called the matter "unprecedented." She said her office will continue to closely investigate its files to help determine whether it needs to file more motions on behalf of more than 50 of its clients.

"We will work as quickly as we can on this, since it involves people who may have been wrongly jailed," Segars said. She praised the efforts of prosecutors, who she said were "moving expeditiously" to resolve the cases.

The prosecutor's office believes many of the suspects involved were guilty of crimes, but Faulk said they would have been granted new trials had charges not been dropped.

Faulk said he had little choice but to throw out all the cases in which the officers might have behaved improperly.

"Since these defendants could not be retried or convicted without the testimony or evidence seized by one or more of these officers, the interests of justice required that we dismiss the charges or vacate the convictions and not pursue a retrial," Faulk said.

Faulk said he would look into other cases with possible wrongdoing immediately if they're brought to his attention by lawyers or others.

He decided to publicize the list of cases now to honor the state's open records law. News organizations including The Associated Press made requests for the information; all had been denied until now.

The four remaining officers are being investigated by a federal grand jury, Faulk said. They have not been charged with any crimes.

Parry, who pleaded guilty on Friday, could receive up to 10 years in federal prison when he's sentenced June 24.

His defense lawyer, William J. Hughes Jr., did not return a call Friday.

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Associated Press Writer Bruce Shipkowski in Trenton contributed to this report.

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