EX-PHA COP IS JAILED FOR PERJURY

Jake Bolden, 38, was a drug fighter when he was a Philadelphia Housing
Authority cop last year.

Bolden, who attended the Police Academy in 1991, hated to see a drug dealer
get away.

So when one fled after a search at 18th and Jefferson streets on Oct. 2,
1999, dropping cocaine, Bolden retrieved it. He then asked a woman
accomplice, caught by his partner with marijuana, to name the escapee.

She refused.

Bolden was so angry, he took the woman in and charged her with not only
possessing her small amount of pot, but also with having the cocaine, which
could have cost her three to six years in jail, said Assistant District
Attorney Bruce Sagel.

After Bolden lied at the woman's preliminary hearing, the other officer
came forward and told investigators the truth.

Bolden was arrested and later convicted of perjury, tampering with evidence
and records and filing false reports.

Yesterday, Common Pleas Judge Anthony J. DeFino sentenced Bolden, of
Warrington Avenue near 49th Street, to 111/2 to 23 months of confinement,
beginning with six months of prison work-release, and ending with
house-arrest. Three years' probation will follow.

Sagel said drug charges against the woman were later dropped.

He added that because Bolden lied under oath, charges against nine other
drug defendants he arrested had to be dropped, too.

"You would put somebody in jail because that person wouldn't tell who got
away from you?" asked DeFino. "Your pride was hurt?"

Defense lawyer Allen J. Sagot told DeFino that Bolden, who supports three
children, "has certainly paid" for his offense, losing his job and reputation.

Sagel said Bolden violated a public trust.

"We can't have people coming into court and placing their hands on the
Bible and lying when other people's liberty is at stake," added Sagel.