A Detroit narcotics police officer was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on two counts of bribery for taking $15,000 in cash bribes from a drug trafficker. That same day, a team of Detroit police investigators seized records and computer data from three of the department’s own facilities as part of an ongoing internal probe into allegations of corruption into the Detroit Police Department’s drug operations.
On April 3, Detroit Police Officer Michael Mosley, who was a member of the Police Department’s Major Violators Unit, found two kilograms of heroin, one kilogram of cocaine, and six firearms while executing a search warrant at a drug trafficker’s residence. After the drug dealer confessed to owning the three kilograms of drugs to Mosley, the drug dealer signed a confession.
Mosley remained in contact with the drug trafficker in an effort to flip the criminal and obtain information on other active criminals when the trafficker offered Mosley a bribe of $15,000. The officer allegedly accepted.
On May 2, Mosley collected $10,000 in cash, which the drug dealer had left for Mosley in the backyard of an abandoned house in Detroit. On May 23, Mosley accepted another $5,000 in cash left for him at the abandoned house. In exchange, Mosley gave the trafficker the original copy of the drug trafficker’s signed confession.
On Thursday, Mosley was indicted on two counts of bribery for taking $15,000 in cash bribes from a drug trafficker. That same day, Detroit Police Chief James Craig announced that internal affairs officers had seized records and computer files from the Narcotics Base on Dexter, a records facility on Mt. Elliott, and Public Safety Headquarters as part of an ongoing investigation into corruption within the department’s drug operations.
“We are seizing everything. We’ll leave no rock unturned. This started at 7 a.m. and is continuing as we speak,” Chief Craig stated.
In 2017, Detroit Police Lt. David Hansberry was sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison and Officer Bryan Watson was sentenced to 9 years for conspiracy to interfere with commerce by extortion and robbery. Charged in connection with his role in the conspiracy, Officer Arthur Leavells also helped federal agents secretly record conversations via a wiretap. The officers worked within the Detroit Police Narcotics Section.
“Although the vast majority of police officers in Michigan are fully dedicated to protecting the public, sometimes there is an infrequent example of an officer driven by corruption and greed,” stated U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider. “I am thankful to Detroit Chief of Police James Craig for his commitment to combating corruption, so that the rare example of bribery does not overshadow the outstanding work of so many other great police officers.”
“Officer Mosley allegedly engaged in conduct that betrayed the oath he took to faithfully serve the people of Detroit,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Rainer Drolshagen of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office. “His behavior should not take away from the outstanding work done each day by the vast majority of law enforcement professionals at the Detroit Police Department.”
“I had suspended him with pay, approximately a month ago based on these allegations,” asserted Chief Craig.
“This morning at 7 a.m., we initiated and led a large-scale probe as part of ongoing internal investigation focusing on Major Violators Section formerly known as Narcotics,” the police chief stated during a press conference on Thursday. “This probe was initiated by DPD, but we have the FBI helping us.”
Each of the two bribery charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.
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