This scandal is widening and it’s not pretty. A Philly detective is also under investigation into who tipped off a major drug kingpin about an ATF raid.
By George Anastasia and John Shiffman
Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA –– Former NBA point guard Jerome “Pooh” Richardson, a Philadelphia high school standout and a star at UCLA, is now a central figure in an obstruction-of-justice investigation built around a phone call he made to a local drug kingpin warning him that he was about to be arrested.
Richardson, 42, called Alton “Ace Capone” Coles from California shortly before 3 a.m. on Aug. 10, 2005, to tell him that “the feds were coming,” according to those familiar with the probe.
Coles and several top associates were arrested in a series of raids about three hours later. They were charged with heading a multimillion-dollar crack cocaine distribution network.
Philadelphia police detective Richard “Rickie” Durham, a boyhood friend of Richardson’s, was the source of the information Richardson forwarded to Coles that morning, according to investigative sources. Durham is the target of a grand jury investigation.
