2 ex-cops get up to 15 years in drug robbery

Amid a courtroom packed with sobbing family and friends, two former Philadelphia police officers caught in an undercover sting helping drug dealers rob a man they believed to be a drug courier were each sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison this morning by a Philadelphia judge.

Christopher Luciano, 23, and fellow 25th District officer Sean Alivera, 31, each made brief statements to Common Pleas Court Judge Lillian H. Ransom and apologized to the Police Department for "disgracing the badge."

"I should have known better," said Luciano. "I had come from a good family and was brought up to know the difference between right and wrong."

Alivera apologized to the court and justice system and "my brothers and sisters in law enforcement. I shamed them and I shamed the badge."

Both former officers faced up to 67 years in prison, including three mandatory five- to 10-year prison terms on their guilty pleas in April to robbery, conspiracy, kidnapping, official oppression and possession of a drug with intent to deliver.

Defense attorneys Gerald Stein and Fortunato "Fred" Perri Jr. urged the judge to impose just one and make the remaining sentences concurrent, arguing that each officer quickly entered open guilty pleas to all charges.

While Ransom did not impose the 15 to 30 years sought by Assistant District Attorney Erica Wilson, she did stack some of the terms. The judge also imposed a five-year period of probation on Alivera when he gets out of prison and seven years probation for Luciano.

Wilson presented two witnesses: Deputy Police Comissioner Stephen Johnson and Inspector Christine Coulter, who headed the 25th District, when the two officers were arrested last October.

Both testified about how the ex-officers acts hurt the reputation of the police department and seriously damaged the relationship between 25th District officers and the tough North Philadelphia and Kensington neighborhoods they serve.

Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey submitted a letter, read by Wilson, that urged Ransom to impose the maximum 67-year prison term on each.

Ramsey's letter referred to the department tradition of retiring the badges of officers slain the line of duty.

"I will retire their badges and melt them down, not out of respect but disgust," Ramsey's letter read.

Luciano, an officer for three years, and Alivera, a 10-year veteran, were arrested Oct. 4 following a sting operation by Philadelphia police and the state Attorney General's office.

Last September, according to earlier court testimony, state investigators heard from an informant that a Philadelphia drug dealer named Aaron Harris boasted that some Philadelphia police officers helped him set up and rob drug couriers.

An undercover state agent began the first phase of the sting by getting close to Harris and giving him information about a potential target.

On Oct. 4, that target - an undercover officer from Philadelphia's police Internal Affairs Division - was issued $4,000 in marked bills and a car with 20 pounds of marijuana in the trunk.

At 6 p.m., as surveillance cameras recorded events, Alivera and Luciano's patrol car was seen stopping the "courier" car at 5th and Cambria Streets without cause.

Authorities said the officers put the courier in the back of their patrol car and Luciano then opened and looked inside the trunk of the courier vehicle at the duffel bag of marijuana.

Luciano then closed the trunk and the officers drove off with the courier in the squad car. They stopped about 10 blocks away and made calls on their cell phones.

While they were gone, investigators said a minivan parked behind the courier car, and Harris and a man identified as Timothy Taylor opened the trunk, took the duffel bag and drove away.

Alivera and Luciano then returned to the scene. One drove the courier vehicle and followed the patrol car back to the 25th District station.

As the undercover officer was being processed inside, investigators arrested Alivera and Luciano. Alivera had $3,000 of the $4,000 in marked bills hidden in his uniform and vest.

Although the marijuana was not recovered, Harris, 34, and Taylor, 26, were arrested later and are scheduled to go to trial in September.