Philly police sergeant was caught on camera pocketing cash in a drug raid and later lied about it, feds say

A Philadelphia police sergeant accused of pocketing cash in a caught-on-camera incident during a 2016 drug raid was indicted Wednesday for trying to cover it up when questioned by the FBI.

Prosecutors say Sgt. Michael Kennedy, 49, a member of the department’s Narcotics Field Unit, stole the money while executing a search warrant on a Kensington apartment in 2016.

Unbeknownst to him, the target of the raid had installed security cameras throughout the premises that recorded the alleged theft. The video was later posted on Instagram after the target was released from jail.

When agents questioned Kennedy about it in 2017, the sergeant admitted to putting money in his pocket but said he had later logged it as evidence and directed investigators to another officer who he said could back up his story.

In the eight-count federal indictment unsealed Wednesday, prosecutors accused Kennedy of coaching that officer — who was not charged or named in the filing — to lie on his behalf.

“The charges against Officer Kennedy allege behavior that is in stark contrast to values police officers are supposed to embody,” said acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams in a statement. “Our community expects everyone in law enforcement to follow the law, and justice demands it.”

For decades, the department’s Narcotics Field Unit — a specialized cadre of drug-trafficking investigators — has been a locus for accusations of police corruption.

In 2014 one former unit member, Jeffrey Walker, admitted he pocketed thousands in drug money, stole evidence, planted drugs, and delivered false testimony that wrongfully sent “countless” people to prison for narcotics and gun crimes — offenses that netted Walker a 3½-year prison sentence.

Prosecutors charged six other members of his squad with similar crimes that same year. Ultimately, though, a jury acquitted them all.

Kennedy, a nearly three-decade veteran of the force who has been under internal investigation since the video of his alleged theft was first posted, now faces charges including conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and making false statements to the FBI — the most serious of which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years.

He was not charged with the underlying theft.

He is expected to turn himself in at an initial court appearance scheduled for Friday.

Kennedy’s lawyer, Michael Drossner, declined to comment, except to say his client is on military leave with the U.S. Army.

The Police Department did not respond to questions about Kennedy’s current status on the force.

But the internal investigation into his alleged misconduct resulted in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office placing him on a list of roughly 30 officers it has refused to call as witnesses in criminal cases due to past questions of misconduct.

The 2016 incident has also spawned two pending federal civil rights lawsuits from two men Kennedy and his partners on the Narcotics Field Unit arrested that day.

Both men contend they were falsely charged with weapons and drug charges and held in prison for months based on falsified information the officers used to obtain a search warrant for their apartment.

The criminal cases against them were dismissed in 2017 after a Common Pleas Court judge suppressed much of the evidence against them, finding that police did not have probable cause to search the apartment.

In court filings in the civil case, Kennedy has denied allegations he stole any money or fabricated evidence that led to their arrests.