A
former Philadelphia police officer received a 15-year sentence Wednesday for
tipping off his drug-dealing half-brother about law enforcement efforts to
bring him down, and later lying to FBI agents about it.
The
punishment, imposed by U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond, exceeded federal
sentencing guideline by more than two years and surpassed even the sentence
sought by federal prosecutors.
It
came after a hearing that lasted nearly three hours and was high on emotion,
one that left 53-year-old Rafael Cordero weeping and one of the city's most
outspoken defense lawyers shocked into stunned silence.
"Your
client," Diamond said, addressing Cordero's lawyer, Jack McMahon Jr.,
during one tense exchange, "stands convicted not of protecting his
brother, but helping a rather large-scale drug trafficker who was killing the
very city he was sworn to protect."
Afterward,
McMahon paced the hallways of the Philadelphia federal courthouse, saying,
"This is unspeakably cruel."
Diamond
left the bench twice during the hearing and ordered the lawyer to calm down.
"This
is like Iraq or something," McMahon snapped after the judge had left the
room.
Later,
the lawyer, who has known Cordero for years from interactions at trials where
they served on opposite sides, said, "What Mr. Cordero did for the
prosecution and locking up of criminals in this city - he was probably one of
the best."
At
issue were two very different depictions at the man at the center of the case.
In
December, a federal jury convicted Cordero, a 23-year veteran of the department
and a married father of two young adults, on four counts of lying to FBI agents
and obstructing justice.
FBI
agents arrested him in August 2012, more than a year after authorities
discovered his family bond with David Garcia, a top operator in one of
Kensington's largest heroin distribution rings.
Cordero
tipped off his brother when agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration installed a camera to monitor activity outside the group's
primary hub, a warehouse off Kensington Avenue. Later, when agents raided the
building, Cordero showed up within minutes to peek through windows and report
back to Garcia.
At
his trial, Cordero accused the agents testifying against him of lying.
On
Wednesday, Diamond likened prosecutors' attempts to wring truth out of Cordero
during that stint on the stand to watching someone try to "nail butter to
a tree."
"This
is a man who at every stage of this case has been deceptive, has been defiant, has
been duplicitous," prosecutor Kevin R. Brenner said.
McMahon
described that portrayal of his client as "disingenuous."
For
years, Garcia worked as an FBI informant and often talked with Cordero about
his work. Both brothers were unaware that by 2011, agents had dropped Garcia
from their roster of trusted moles upon learning he was still working a drug
corner at Swanson and Somerset Streets, McMahon said.
And
as a decorated officer, with a long record of community and charitable work,
and a strong family bond, Cordero should be given the benefit of the doubt, the
lawyer said.
Cordero
barely held his emotions in check through much of Wednesday's hearing. As
neighbors, family members, and even a fellow officer rose to vouch for his
character, he rocked back and forth in his chair, alternating between sobs and
choked expressions of love.
When
it was his turn to address the judge, Cordero described his crimes as a mistake
stemming from seeing Garcia "as my brother and not seeing him as a drug
dealer."
Turning
to Cordero's family, Diamond responded: "This didn't happen because your
father made a mistake. This happened because your father committed crimes and
helped a drug dealer. This happened because your father let you down."
