Ex-cop facing robbery charges loses bid to get out of jail

A federal judge yesterday denied a request by an ex-Philadelphia cop to be released from federal prison while awaiting trial.

Malik Snell, 35, has been in federal custody since he voluntarily surrendered to U.S. marshals on April 30 on an outstanding federal warrant.

Snell and two others were indicted by federal authorities in May in connection with a home invasion in Pottstown last December.

A federal magistrate ordered Snell detained on May 2. All three defendants have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting a September trial date.

Defense attorney John I. McMahon requested that Snell be released and put under house arrest before trial.

McMahon said that Snell, who had previously been released on bail while the state charges were pending, had attended all court proceedings before the feds adopted the case.

During a bail hearing yesterday before U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick, Snell, his wife and father-in-law all testified that he was not a flight risk and "only [wanted] his day in court."

Snell is accused of driving two others to an apartment in Pottstown, where they believed that a drug dealer stored the proceeds of his sales, which they allegedly intended to rob.

While Snell waited outside in his SUV, his two co-defendants tried to rob the occupants of the apartment but were unable to find any drug money and fled, authorities said.

Snell admitted that he "panicked" after co-defendant and brother-in-law Tyree Aimes came running from the apartment and jumped in his SUV.

Snell and Aimes drove off and subsequently led police on a high-speed chase before crashing the vehicle.

Snell testified that he didn't know why Aimes and a third defendant had gone to the apartment.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Leo Tsao said that Snell's explanation was "classic getaway driver" testimony. He said it was "inconceivable" that Snell was oblivious to why the men had driven to Pottstown. "He was a full-fledged member of the team," Tsao said.

Tsao said that Snell had not shown he wasn't a flight risk or a danger to the community.

Tsao said that Snell faced a mandatory minimum sentence of five years if convicted of carrying a firearm during a violent crime.

Authorities recovered a loaded handgun from Snell's SUV after his arrest. Defense attorney McMahon said that the firearm was Snell's personal handgun, was secured inside the car and not used during the alleged crime.

Surrick told McMahon that it would be "inappropriate" to release Snell. "Your client will get his day in court and we'll see where it goes from there," the judge said. *