NYPD Cop Sentenced After Boasting He Was Among The 'Most Corrupt'

NEW YORK CITY — A former NYPD officer who bragged he was among “the most corrupt cops” in his Queens precinct will spend eight years in prison, federal prosecutors announced.

Robert Smith, 45, faced sentencing in Brooklyn's federal court Wednesday after pleading guilty to bribery and drug charges linked to his time at the 105th Precinct, where his conduct was described as “unabashedly racist,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace.

“Robert Smith and his co-defendants were corrupt officers who sold out their badges for personal gain," U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.

“For his crimes, Smith, self-described as ‘one of the most corrupt cops in the 105’, deservedly will spend years in prison.”

A federal investigation uncovered a scheme Smith carried out with two other cops — Heather Busch, 35, and Robert Hassett, 37 — in which they took thousands in bribes to direct crash-damaged vehicles toward one towing company, authorities said.

Smith and Hassett also sold details about crash victims to a broker who would funnel that information to personal injury attorneys and physical therapy businesses, prosecutors contend.

The pair ultimately obtained the names of more than 100 crash victims in exchange for $7,000 in bribes, according to court documents.

Smith alone faced a charge on accusations he ferried drugs. Undercover cops gave Smith what he believed to be 1 kilogram of heroin, which he transported for $1,200, authorities said.

Prosecutors note Smith also used a racial slur to describe pointing his gun at Black people and joked about joining the Ku Klux Klan.

Smith’s misdeeds caught up with him in May 2021, when federal prosecutors charged him and two other cops with bribery charges.

Both Busch and Hassett pleaded guilty to their charges. Hassett received a six-month sentence, while Busch awaits his sentencing.

The New York Daily News reports Smith openly wept at his sentencing Wednesday.