This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

A sticky-fingered, pill-popping North Carolina police chief goes down, a Baton Rouge narcotics cop already under indictment for corruption gets another charge, and more. Let's get to it:

In Philadelphia, a Philadelphia police officer was arrested last Wednesday for allegedly lying under oath about observing two Latino men engaging in a drug deal and arresting one of them with no legal justification. Officer James Saxton, 34, now faces charges of perjury, unsworn falsification (for lying on the arrest report), and official oppression.

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a Baton Rouge police officer was arrested last Wednesday for the second time in two months. Corporal Jason Acree, a 12-year veteran of the force, was first arrested in February on charges of possession with intent to distribute Schedule I narcotics and official malfeasance as part of a broader takedown of corrupt Baton Rouge narcotics cops. He is now charged also with obstruction of justice.

In Phenix City, Alabama, a Russell County jail guard was arrested last Friday for allegedly smuggling marijuana and other contraband into the jail. Guard Alicia Laury went down after the sheriff's office got information that one of the jailers was in an inappropriate relationship with an inmate and smuggling contraband for him. After being confronted, Laury admitted smuggling a pair of cell phone on one occasion and marijuana, tobacco, and rolling papers on another. She is charged with promoting prison contraband in the second degree, which is a class C felony.

In Chadbourn, North Carolina, the recently-resigned former chief of police was arrested Monday for allegedly stealing drugs, cash, and firearms from the department evidence locker. Former Chief William Anthony Spivey, 35, had resigned two weeks ago amid an investigation into the missing evidence. Spivey went down after the district attorney notified that town manager that the department had not submitted any drug evidence for months, and the ensuing investigation pointed toward him. Among the items reported missing from the evidence room were more than $32,000 in cash, two handguns and a rifle, 367 doses of Xanax and varying amounts of hydrocodone, Oxycontin and methadone. Spivey faces 73 charges, including 31 counts each of stealing or destroying evidence and embezzlement by a public official, as well as trafficking heroin or opium and three counts of trafficking by fraudulent or forging prescriptions.