NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A former NYPD officer who referred to himself as “one of the most corrupt cops in the 105,” was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison Wednesday for using interstate facilities to commit bribery and attempting to transport heroin, the Department of Justice announced.
The Queens cop, 45-year-old Robert Smith, engaged in several corrupt schemes while he was an NYPD officer including a tow truck bribery with another officer, Robert Hasset. For almost a year, from Sept. 2016 to June 2017, Smith and Hassett directed vehicles damaged in accidents to a specific repair business instead of going through the NYPD’s Directed Accident Response Program (“DARP”). The business provided the officers thousands of dollars in exchange for the services.
After a two-year hiatus from the towing scheme, Smith began accepting bribe payments from the tow truck service again in 2019. In 2020, just before retiring, Smith recruited another officer, Heather Busch, to take over the scheme after which Busch began directing vehicles to the business for payment.
Starting in Jan. 2020, Smith and Hassest engaged in another scheme involving automobile accidents. Both officers used NYPD databases to get the names and information of accident victims and sell it to an unnamed individual. The unidentified individual would then sell the victim’s information to physical therapy businesses and personal injury attorneys so that they could try to get the car accident victims in as customers.
That same month, Smith started planning for retirement by asking the same unidentified individual for opportunities to transport illegal drugs in exchange for payment once he retired from the NYPD. After retiring in March 2020, Smith met with two undercover law enforcement officers posing as narcotics traffickers a few months later to talk about his interest in participating in a scheme to traffic drugs. Smith told the officers he could carry a firearm as well as his retired NYPD identification while he was transporting the drugs.
In July 2020, Smith met with a third undercover cop and agreed to transport a bag with what he thought was a kilogram of heroin to a location in Queens. Smith delivered the bag to another undercover officer and accepted a payment of about $1,200 cash after which he was busted.
“Corruption not only endangers the communities that police officers are sworn to serve, but it also corrodes the public’s trust in law enforcement and the criminal justice system. Robert Smith and his co-defendants were corrupt officers who sold out their badges for personal gain without regard for the betrayal and the harm they caused the NYPD and their fellow officers,” stated United States Attorney Breon Peace. “For his crimes, Smith, self-described as ‘one of the most corrupt cops in the 105’, deservedly will spend years in prison. Today’s sentence should send a message that this Office, together with our law enforcement partners, will work diligently to investigate and prosecute corrupt public servants who exploit their positions of power for profit.”
Smith pleaded guilty in October 2021 for the crimes. Along with Smith’s 97-year sentence, his co-conspirators Hassett and Busch were also convicted. Busch was convicted to six months in prison in February while Hassett pleaded guilty in October and is awaiting sentencing.
“We have zero tolerance for corruption of any kind within the NYPD,” stated NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell. “We and our law-enforcement partners will continue to vigorously pursue corrupt public servants who exploit their positions for personal gain. In addition to eroding public trust in law enforcement, their disgraceful actions tarnish the reputation of the many thousands of police officers who honorably serve our communities each day.”
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