Former Philadelphia sheriff’s deputy accused of selling guns and meth to an FBI informant is now a convicted felon
By
John R. Lott
May 21, 2014Updated May 19, 2014 at 1:58 p.m.
An investigation by ABC News and the Los Angeles Times found that the Philadelphia sheriff’s deputy was accused of selling guns and meth to an FBI informant, but was later convicted of dealing drugs.
An investigation by ABC News and the Los Angeles Times found that the Philadelphia deputy sheriff was charged in 2010 for selling guns and meth to an FBI informant, and was later convicted in September of a third federal drug case.
The deputy, Thomas F. Keenan, was charged a year earlier with selling an AK-47, a 9-mm semi-automatic pistol, and a 9-mm pistol to an informant for more than $1,300.
He was convicted of drug trafficking charges in September.
Keenan is now a convicted felon.
Keenan’s arrest is an old issue in Philadelphia, and a matter of debate in the city and suburbs of Philadelphia and throughout the nation.
The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Deputy Thomas Keenan, an 11-year veteran of the Philadelphia County Sheriff’s Office, worked in the jail, ran investigations, and took drug and alcohol calls. During a routine traffic stop in October 2010, for example, Keenan was driving a blue Impala with a license plate stolen in Virginia. The passenger, who had no identification, handed over the license. The impounded vehicle was later towed to the police department. As is the case of almost all police officers, Keenan had a federal firearms license.
However, the Philadelphia district attorney’s office determined that Keenan could not, constitutionally, sell the car because it was seized from Philadelphia police officers. When the case was referred to federal prosecutors, the agency concluded he had “sold” the car and seized it “for his own personal use.”
According to a Philadelphia police official, the deputy’s arrest record
