Three Philly Police Officers Arrested
By Wyatt Earp | July 14, 2010
As bad as this story is, it is even more disgusting for me, because I worked with Venziale and Williams. They were officers in my division. When I heard that an indictment was coming down, one of my fellow detectives asked if I heard who was getting arrested. I said, “No, who?” When they said Venziale, and Williams, my first reaction was, “Yeah, right.”
You see, Venziale and Williams did not fit the “reckless and stupid” profile like some officers in our division. They usually brought in body warrants and stolen auto arrests. They rarely brought in narcotics arrests – the arrest du jour of potentially corrupt officers. By all appearances they were good cops.
Apparently, appearances can be deceiving:
Three Philadelphia police officers plotted with drug dealers and staged a traffic stop and drug seizure in a scheme to steal $15,000 worth of heroin from a supplier and sell the drug, federal authorities charged.
Officers Mark Williams, James Venziale and Robert Snyder were named in a 14-count indictment announced Tuesday, along with Snyder’s wife and three suspected drug dealers. The plan went awry when the officers tried to sell the 300 grams of heroin through an undercover federal agent, Assistant U.S. Attorney Virginia Gibson said.
In May, Williams and Venziale staged a traffic stop of co-defendant Angel Ortiz after Ortiz obtained heroin from a supplier on credit, authorities said. With the supplier’s courier looking on, the officers appeared to arrest Ortiz, who was allegedly in on the scheme, and seize the drugs, Gibson said. Ortiz paid those two officers $6,000 for their help and an unidentified amount to Snyder’s wife, Christal Snyder, the indictment said.
Jackasses. $6,000 for your name, your career, and your self-respect. Oh, they’ll be big stars in federal prison. I wonder if they think it was worth it?
Topics: Philly, The Job | 21 Comments »
July 14th, 2010 at 8:51 am
Just like here in the public utilities sector when a manager takes a mere pittance kickback from a contractor on a job and gets then busted losing job, respect and gets jail time. Why??? It boggles the mind.
July 14th, 2010 at 9:21 am
I cannot imagine selling my career and my future for a mere $6,000. Now, if there is a Mil or so missing and MUD is gone, you might have a case. Nah, make it at least 2 mil.
July 14th, 2010 at 9:23 am
Greed is a bad thing. Their lives, for all intents and purposes, are over. Stupid!
July 14th, 2010 at 10:11 am
This is really shocking ! What’s $6K get you these days ! I feel for the Philly PD – this kind of scandal effects all of the force not just these three idiots. They should make a lot of friends in prision.
July 14th, 2010 at 10:36 am
In my time, I arrested (and convicted) several cops. I took no pleasure from it but, like cancer, they needed to be removed. To a man, they were greedy, but also stupid. That stupidity was evidenced in their belief that THEY could never be caught. Sad….
July 14th, 2010 at 10:36 am
Jon – I guess they thought they wouldn’t get caught.
MUD – $6,000. Just doesn’t make sense.
MeToo – I like how the wife of one of the officers was involved. Hope they don’t have kids.
Robbie – Yeah, to a lot of people, we’re all corrupt now.
FDLE Lew – I know two of these officers. I also know that they deserve to be arrested and sent away for a long time.
July 14th, 2010 at 11:02 am
The really bad thing about this is, the media will use a very wide brush to paint all the officers in Philly as corrupt. My sympathies to you and the other honest officers in your city.
July 14th, 2010 at 11:51 am
Disgraceful. These clowns just handed more ammo to Philly’s cop haters.
July 14th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Robert B. – Thanks. Gonna be a fun couple of weeks.
John D. – And there are plenty of them here.
July 14th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
Don’t drop the soap.
July 14th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Mrs. Crankipants – I wonder if they still have chastity belts?
July 14th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Only for the equipment up front, making the back door wide open!
July 14th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Damn shame… Most folks realize LEO’s are not Jesus Christ or GOD..They are human beings which makes them imperfect. They are apt to fall into temptation just like any human would.
We do not know the circumstances in which they found their selves. Kids, bills, family issues whatever, stress makes good folks do stupid shit.
All that being said, you’d expect the best of the best to use better judgment.
Sad story all the way around. Don’t let the media paint the entire force with that brush, fight it with comments like “Do you mean all black people are like shabazz?”
July 14th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
Damn.
July 14th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
They’ve been watching too many movies, thinking they’d get away with it.
I’m glad they got caught. It is a tough knock to those who do their jobs the right way, for the right reasons.
July 15th, 2010 at 1:30 am
They will most likely spend their prison time in Segregation.As being in population could prove fatal.
July 15th, 2010 at 11:09 am
Mrs. Crankipants – *shudder*
Robert – If I worried about all of the people that hated me and my fellow officers, I’d have no hair left.
Bob – Correction: Dumb.
RT – Those stories aren’t ratings-grabbers, though, so they stay in the circular file.
Rick – I think that’s correct.
July 15th, 2010 at 11:39 am
Wyatt:
This is beyond stupid for SO many reasons.
It’s simply NOT worth it to screw yourself over in life over this crap.
And believe me, put a fork in them, because they are DONE!
No one is a saint or perfect, but to use the shield as a way to deal drugs…nope, sorry…wrong answer!
Stay safe.
July 15th, 2010 at 11:42 am
What to do now? Officer Snyder locked me up for a case I go to trial on very soon. A false arrest where my money was taken from me and all. I was told by other officers and judges to “chalk it up” because he probably spent that money on his wife. WOW! I’m being accussed of being what Officer Snyder has been arrested for. What to do now? He has put a halt on my life like I have never imagined all for me trying to be a good citizen…
July 15th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Bob G – Yeah, they frakked themselves. Their problem, not mine.
Ghari – Go to your court date and explain everything to your lawyer/public defender. Every one of these officers cases will be gone over with a fine-tooth comb. There is a chance the charges will be dismissed, but you have to show up for court.
July 17th, 2010 at 12:40 am
I have zero sympathy for them. They are not cops, they’re drug dealers with badges. They are criminals, period. Just imagine how many times they’ve done this before. How many drug dealers have they shakin’ down? Who much money have they taken over the years?? All their cases should be thrown out. They are a disgrace, and it just reiterates the fact that Philly needs to be more selective in who they hire. Snyder was a worthless bumb in the 25th..trust me.