Pubdate: Sun, 07 Apr 2002 Source: Buffalo News (NY) Copyright: 2002 The Buffalo News Contact: http://www.buffalonews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/61 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption) EX-COP GETS 6 1/2 YEARS IN JAIL PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A former narcotics officer convicted of leaking information to drug dealers about impending raids has been sentenced to 61/2 years in jail. At a sentencing hearing Friday for Kenneth Spencer, 34, prosecutors said the six-year veteran told his girlfriend about one 1998 raid that allowed drug-gang members to hide their drugs and clear the area before police swooped in. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Paw said that on another occasion, Spencer accepted $2,800 from a drug dealer to reveal the identity of an undercover officer, and also disclosed police surveillance routes and which dealers were under investigation. "He endangered each of these officers as they executed search warrants," Paw said. Spencer's defense attorneys blamed his behavior on alcohol. "Drinking and policing fit hand in glove and made Spencer feel included and important," the attorneys said in a letter to U.S. District Judge Jan E. DuBois. Spencer, convicted of conspiracy and drug charges in 1999, has already spent 30 months in prison and could be free in three years. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager