Ex-Detective Pleads Guilty to Lying in Bronx Drug Case

By Kevin Deutsch
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A former Yonkers police detective pleaded guilty Friday to perjuring himself in a Bronx narcotics case—a lie that led to an innocent Olinville man serving nearly five months in jail.

Sean Fogarty, 43, a 22-year member of the police force, was granted a conditional discharge, contingent on his retirement, as part of a plea deal with Manhattan prosecutors.

He will have a criminal record, authorities said, and permitted to collect his police pension.

The perjury charge stemmed from false testimony Fogarty gave about an April 2018 drug raid he supervised at an Olinville home.

A search warrant permitted Fogarty and his colleagues to search the first and second floors of a home belonging to Calvin Powell, a local tax preparer who had previously done prison time as part of a federal drug case.

The raid uncovered seventeen kilos of cocaine in a third-floor apartment, a space Powell was renting out to tenants. Fogarty knowingly lied about the bust in court, authorities said, testifying under oath that the drugs were found on the second floor.

The lie helped send Powell to Rikers Island, where he missed his father’s funeral. He has filed a lawsuit in federal court.

About Kevin Deutsch 265 Articles
Kevin Deutsch is a Staff Writer for Bronx Justice News covering the criminal justice system, drugs, and DNA use by law enforcement. An award-winning journalist, Deutsch is the author of the true crime books "Pill City" and "The Triangle." He has worked on staff at the Daily News, Miami Herald, Newsday, The Palm Beach Post, and The Riverdale Press. His work has also appeared in Newsweek, Columbia Journalism Review, The New York Times, The Village Voice, The Forward, The Independent, Huffington Post, Orlando Sentinel, and the New York Post, among other publications. His numerous television appearances include spots on CNN, MSNBC, and C-SPAN's BookTV. He has also been featured in The New Yorker. A Bronx resident, Deutsch hosts the true crime podcast "A Dark Turn" on the Authors on the Air Global Radio Network.