NYC cop pleads guilty to $200K cocaine deal
22lbs. of drug was waiting in Sunrise
A New York City police officer admitted Friday that he traveled to South Florida and used his off-duty gun to provide security for a $200,000 cocaine deal that turned out to be a law enforcement sting.
Phillip LeRoy, 28, of Queens, pleaded guilty to a drug-trafficking conspiracy charge in federal court in Fort Lauderdale.
LeRoy faces between 10 years and life in federal prison when he is sentenced June 5, though his lawyer, Paul Petruzzi, said he hopes the judge will impose a lighter punishment.
LeRoy has been locked up without bond at the Broward County Main Jail since his Dec. 1 arrest. Two other defendants, Brian Espinal and Richard Quintanilla, 35, of Ecuador, previously pleaded guilty to related charges.
Espinal, 27, of New York City, told investigators he was a drug courier and asked LeRoy to accompany him on a December trip from New York to Sunrise to pick up 22 pounds of cocaine.
The two did not realize the drug deal was a sting operation orchestrated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Sunrise Police.
LeRoy’s job, Espinal said, was to flash his badge if they were pulled over while driving the drugs back to the Northeast. LeRoy brought his loaded off-duty 9 mm pistol with him and authorities said they found it under the passenger seat where he was sitting.
Petruzzi said LeRoy met Espinal through a mutual friend and they quickly became close buddies. LeRoy, he said, was motivated mostly by friendship.
“Friendship and the type of lifestyle that his newfound friend was able to provide and taking advantage of all the good things that South Florida has to offer — beaches, babes and bars,” Petruzzi said.
Handcuffed,
shackled
and
dressed