Ex-cop gets 30 years and his badge destroyed

A corrupt former Philadelphia cop who used his badge to rob drug dealers was sentenced yesterday to 30 years in a federal lockup.

In a letter read to the court before sentencing, Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said that Malik Snell's criminal acts had so tarnished the badge that he wore for 12 years that it would be removed from service and destroyed.

"I will do so, not out of respect, but out of disgust," the commissioner wrote to U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick. "The badge he dishonored will be destroyed . . . melted into a lump of metal."

A jury convicted Snell in June of conspiracy, attempted robbery and a weapons offense in connection with a botched home-invasion robbery in Pottstown.

Snell, 37, was also convicted of taking $40,000 in cash from a South Philadelphia drug kingpin during a bogus police car stop.

Both incidents occurred in December 2007, while Snell was assigned to the 18th District, headquartered at 55th and Pine streets, in West Philadelphia. (He was fired from the force last year.)

It was a long afternoon for the defense.

"I knew there was going to be hell to pay for my client today, and that's exactly what happened," said defense attorney John I. McMahon Jr.

McMahon had asked Surrick to "temper" his sentence by weighing his client's crimes against an otherwise "exemplary" life, which included Marine Corps service.

But Surrick said that Snell had harmed the reputation of the Police Department, and that it was necessary to deter other police officers who might contemplate actions similar to Snell's.

The judge also said that he did not believe that Snell - who offered a tearful apology to the court, his victims and his family, and asked for a "second chance" - had shown any remorse or taken responsibility for his crimes.

The 30-year sentence was above the advisory guideline range and in line with a request from prosecutors.

"It's gratifying to me that the judge recognized that somebody who is going to betray his oath and betray that badge is going to be punished to the full extent of the law," Assistant U. S. Attorney Leo Tsao said.

Before imposing sentence, Surrick heard dramatic testimony from victims of the Pottstown attempted robbery in which Snell and two others were involved in December 2007.

Stephanie Welch was a passenger in a car that Snell's SUV had smashed into in Exeter Township following a high-speed chase as Snell attempted to elude police.

After the crash, Snell didn't render assistance or call 9-1-1 but ran from the scene.

Looking directly at Snell, Welch said: "I did nothing to you . . . you didn't stop by to say you were sorry, you left me for dead by the side of the road."

Welch, who's a nurse, said that she walks with a limp as a result of the accident, and thinks about it every day. "It's not fair," she said.