Philadelphia Officer Sentenced In Gun Trace Task Force Case

BALTIMORE, MD — A former officer with the Philadelphia Police Department was sentenced Friday to almost a decade in federal prison for his involvement in the Baltimore Police Department's Gun Trace Task Force racketeering conspiracy. Several officers with the Baltimore Police Department have already been sentenced.

Eric Troy Snell, 34, of Philadelphia, will serve nine years in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine. U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake also sentenced him to three years of supervised release.

Snell admitted that he conspired with former Baltimore police officers to sell heroin and cocaine that Baltimore police had seized, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.

Prosecutors said that after three days of trial, Snell pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine on Nov. 1, 2018.

"The community needs to know that when we have evidence of wrongdoing, we will follow that evidence and prosecute you — whether you wear a badge or not,” Maryland U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur said in a statement. "Prosecuting law enforcement officers is painful, but necessary if we are to restore the public’s trust in our justice system. No one is above the law."

Snell underwent training at the Baltimore Police Academy and was an officer within the Baltimore Police Department until March 2008, according to court records. He went on to join the Philadelphia Police Department in September 2014.

While at the police academy in Baltimore, he was peers with Jemell Rayam, who became a member of the Baltimore Police Department's Gun Trace Task Force.

From October 2016 to June 2017, prosecutors said that Snell conspired with Rayam and others to sell heroin and cocaine that Baltimore officers had seized. Among the drugs were 9 ounces of cocaine thrown from a vehicle that ultimately crashed near Mondawmin Mall on Oct. 3, 2016, officials said.

Once Snell learned of the seized cocaine, he asked Rayam on Oct. 18, 2016, to give him the drugs so he could sell them, according to prosecutors. Two days later, Rayam brought the cocaine to Philadelphia to Snell, whose brother would sell the cocaine.

Prosecutors said Snell admitted that he received $2,000 from the sale of the drugs and put $1,000 in Rayam's bank account on Oct. 27, 2016; he also admitted he met multiple times with Rayam to coordinate similar drug transactions.

After Rayam was arrested on June 26, 2017, Snell spoke with Rayam on the recorded phone system in place at the jail where Rayam was detained and instructed the Baltimore officer to “say less” on the recorded jail phones to avoid detection of their illegal drug trafficking, prosecutors said.

Snell was arrested on Nov. 14, 2017, and he admitted on the way to Baltimore that he had lied to FBI agents when he told them he had made payments to Rayam for a gambling debt, according to prosecutors. They said that he admitted the money was for drugs from Rayam, and when law enforcement searched his home, they found a box with cocaine residue, razor blades used for cutting narcotics for distribution, a .40-caliber and 9 mm handgun ammunition. Officers also recovered his Philadelphia Police Department-issued service weapon, a 9 mm handgun, a 40-caliber handgun and two unregistered short-barrel assault rifles from his master bedroom, according to authorities.

• Gun Trace Task Force Leader Sgt. Wayne Jenkins To Serve 25 Years In Federal Prison
• Corrupt Former BPD Detective Momodu Gondo Sentenced To 10 Years
• BPD Sgt. Thomas Allers Sentenced To 15 Years For Racketeering
• Baltimore Detective Marcus Taylor Pleads Not Guilty, Gets 18 Years In Prison
• BPD Detective Thomas Hersl To Serve 18-Year Sentence
• Detectives Evodio Hendrix, Maurice Ward Sentenced To 7 Years Each