The man accused of shooting six police officers in North Philadelphia on Aug. 14 was a federal informant who had a long relationship with the government, according to a report.
Records show that alleged shooter, Maurice Hill, had a long history of criminal charges (pdf). He also has a record of reduced sentencing for cooperation.
Hill plead guilty to possessing a firearm as a felon back in 2008 at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
His attorney, Wayne Maynard, said Hill deserves a lower-than-average sentence because, “He has testified before the Grand Jury on two occasions, was willing to testify at trial, and provided information about a shooter that led to an arrest,” wrote Maynard. “He has cooperated with the Government and provided information that has and will likely continue to imperil his safety and that of his family.”
In April 2010, federal prosecutors filed a motion for a downward departure, reducing his term.
Hill was sentenced to 55 months in prison, lower than the average 75 months for a felon in possession of a firearm.
A day after the Philadelphia shooting, U.S. Attorney William McSwain criticized District Attorney Larry Krasner for “disrespect for law enforcement,” McSwain released in a statement.
“We have plenty of criminal laws in this City—but what we don’t have is robust enforcement by the District Attorney. Instead, among other things, we have diversionary programs for gun offenses, the routine downgrading of charges for violent crime, and entire sections of the criminal code that are ignored,” said McSwain.
“The criminal laws in this City—and especially the existing gun laws and drug laws—should be aggressively enforced in order to protect the public and the police,” continued McSwain. “My Office is doing all that we can. We have prosecuted 70 percent more violent crime cases this year than we did last year.”
