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Ex-Gov. Corbett's former son-in-law sentenced to jail

Jerold Gibson was sentenced to six to 12 months in jail with work-release eligibility.

Jerold Gibson: 6-to-12 months for theft. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Jerold Gibson: 6-to-12 months for theft. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)Read moreAP

A FORMER Philadelphia narcotics cop - who had been ex-Gov. Tom Corbett's son-in-law - was sentenced yesterday to six to 12 months in county jail with work-release eligibility.

Jerold Gibson, 45, who has also spelled his name Gerold Gibson, was convicted of theft charges by a jury in July in a case in which he was caught on camera pocketing $140 from a car.

Common Pleas Judge Diana Anhalt yesterday ordered Gibson taken immediately into custody.

Assistant District Attorney Douglas Rhoads said after the hearing that Anhalt told Gibson that "integrity is what you do when nobody is looking."

Rhoads said the arrest and conviction of Gibson, and the judge's sentence, "should go a long way in the mind of citizens that police officers are being held accountable. They have their own internal code, but they also have the very real specter of criminal sanctions if they transgress and break the law."

Rhoads asked Anhalt for a sentence of incarceration.

Gibson was captured in a Jan. 31, 2013, sting taking $140 from a 1998 Lexus that was set up to look like a drug dealer's car.

The sting was conducted by an FBI and Philadelphia Police Internal Affairs task force. The Lexus was equipped with tiny cameras.

During the trial, the jury saw video of Gibson taking the money while transporting the car from Logan to his Narcotics Field Unit headquarters.

Gibson was married to Corbett's daughter, Kate, who works at the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office and who previously was a prosecutor in the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. She and Gibson were separated at the time of his arrest in 2013; they have since divorced.

Defense attorney A. Charles Peruto Jr. asked for a probationary sentence. He said one of Gibson's three adult sons from his first marriage - prior to being married to Corbett - testified yesterday about how Gibson has strongly supported him and the family.

Gibson was also sentenced to two years' probation after his jail term.

On Twitter: @julieshawphilly