A former Camden police officer pleaded guilty to conspiracy Friday, admitting that he and other officers planted evidence, threatened people with planting evidence and falsifying reports in order to make bogus arrests.
The plea came the same day prosecutors dropped criminal charges against 185 people in Camden because of an investigation of police misconduct.
Kevin Parry, 29, pleaded guilty in a U.S. district court to conspiracy to deprive others of their civil rights, a crime punishable by 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine, according to U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.
“The actions described in today’s guilty plea are reprehensible, and our investigation of that conduct continues,” said Fishman in a press release. “Their actions, however, should be no reflection on the countless dedicated police officers who perform their mission honestly and admirably.”
Parry admitted that he and the four other officers planted evidence; threatened people with arrest using planted evidence if they did not cooperate; conducted illegal searches and arrests; paid for cooperation and information, often from prostitutes, with illegal drugs; and wrote up false police reports and gave false testimony in court.
Parry was a police officer in the Camden Police Department since 2006. He and the other four officers were part of a special operations division and Parry said that on 30 to 50 occasions they added drugs to the amount of drugs seized on a person, so that the arrest appeared more significant.
The Camden County Prosecutor's Office said Friday that indictments were dismissed or convictions vacated in 171 cases. There are 14 more cases where charges were dismissed before any indictments were handed up.
