By Michael Perlstein
Staff writer/The Times-Picayune
March 25, 1999

A crooked New Orleans cop was repaid with a relatively light sentence Wednesday in exchange for his cooperation in bringing down one of the biggest and most violent drug gangs in the city's history.

Former police officer David Singleton confessed to dealing kilos of cocaine for convicted drug kingpin Richard Pena. He admitted using his police badge and service pistol to kidnap a rival drug dealer whose body was found in a shallow grave four months later -- crimes that might have landed Singleton in jail for life.

But Singleton also was among the first suspects to cooperate with authorities against the notorious Pena gang and his sentence reflected his decision to sing. As expected, Singleton was given 15 years in prison: seven years from U.S. District Judge Morey Sear for drug trafficking and eight years from U.S. District Judge Peter Beer for his role in kidnapping Richard Curtis under the guise of a routine traffic stop.

Singleton, 40, whose cases were handled by two different federal judges, declined to make any statements as he was given sentences that had been hammered out in plea bargains in 1997. As about a half-dozen family members looked on, the bespectacled Singleton acknowledged them with a smile and the best wave he could manage in handcuffs.

He will likely be remembered as one of the most corrupt cops ever to wear the star and crescent of the NOPD. According to court documents, his confessed crimes only scratch the surface of his activities as a Pena lieutenant, including unprosecuted roles in at least two other murders. Fellow officers said his sentence was extremely lenient for his betrayal of his oath as an officer.

"He got off very light and it's all because he rolled over," said one veteran officer who worked with Singleton.

In December, Singleton's trial testimony against his former police partner, Renard Smith, helped convict Smith of dealing cocaine for the Pena organization. Singleton also testified that Smith helped him kidnap Curtis and deliver him to his death in August 1995, but the jury deadlocked on that charge. Smith still faces an expected life sentence on the drug conviction.

Even more valued by prosecutors was Singleton's willingness to take the stand against Pena, whose underlings cornered much of the city's cocaine market in the mid-1990s and kept its grip through a string of murders. Singleton was spared a courtroom appearance when Pena pleaded guilty to eight murders in January as part of a plea deal in which prosecutors dropped pursuit of the death penalty. Pena and his top lieutenants are now serving life sentences.

Pena's attorney, Laurie White, said Singleton's plea bargain went beyond the usual leniency for a cooperating defendant.

"I think it's outrageous, considering his history and how long he had been in the Police Department," White said. Singleton, an 18-year veteran patrolman, was acquitted along with Smith in 1991 on federal charges of shaking down drug dealers.

White pointed to unprosecuted crimes that surfaced in court documents only after Singleton sealed his deal. The documents, including Pena's 27-page confession, show that a year before the Curtis kidnapping, Singleton helped kidnap another Pena enemy in the same manner. Navarri Harvey was pulled over and handcuffed by Singleton in November 1994, then delivered to Pena and several of his associates. Harvey was tortured for several days before he was strangled and his body buried in a shallow grave outside Slidell.

Singleton also helped arrange and cover up the 1997 killing of Robin Pitre, whom Pena suspected was a government informant. According to Pena's confession and other documents, Singleton obtained Pitre's Hollygrove address and delivered it to Pena. When Pitre was fatally shot next to her home, Singleton responded to the scene and heard witnesses describe the gunman's car as a white Buick with a broken taillight. The next day, Singleton told the gunman, a hitman for Pena, to fix the taillight.

White said, "I think it (Singleton's plea bargain) was a mistake that the government would like to undo. But they don't want to say anything that would hurt the integrity of their case."

The prosecutors who handled Singleton's cases, Al Winters Jr. and Michael McMahon, declined to comment, as did Singleton's attorney, Robert Glass. U.S. Attorney Eddie Jordan Jr. could not be reached for comment. But former U.S. Attorney John Volz said deals such as Singleton's are necessary to build cases against other defendants.

"The first guy through the church doors gets the best deal," Volz said. "Law enforcement uses that all the time. That's how you get the drug kingpins. You need the lieutenant to get the captain, the captain to get the colonel, and the colonel to get the commander."

Maj. Felix Loicano, commander of the NOPD's Public Integrity Division, said he is satisfied with Singleton's sentence. Loicano's detectives obtained evidence of Singleton's drug activities while investigating his younger brother, Ronald, an ex-cop now serving a seven-year sentence for drug trafficking.

"Getting rid of corrupt police officers is our mission and this case goes to the heart of our mission," Loicano said. "Not only did we get rid of a bad cop, but we sent a message to our citizens and other police officers that we won't tolerate this kind of behavior."

The NOPD's case against the Singleton brothers came at a time when the Drug Enforcement Administration and FBI were hot on the trail of Pena organization. David Singleton's decision to become a government witness provided "a major break for the feds and helped others roll over on Pena," Loicano said.