Police1 Staff Report
(PHILADELPHIA) -- A federal grand jury indicted a Secret Service agent on multiple charges yesterday including the alleged theft of more than $2,000 in cash seized during searches.
Michael Cohen, a supervisory special agent in the Philadelphia bureau of the federal agency, was charged with two counts of theft of government funds, one count of obstruction of justice, one count of witness tampering and one count of making a false statement, according to the indictment.
An agent that was identified in the indictment only as “R.K.” testified to the grand jury that on Jan. 13, 2000 he and Cohen seized $3,173 during a search.
“Michael Cohen embezzled and wrongfully converted to his own use, money of another in an amount...approximately $2,000,” the indictment alleges.
The court papers state that Cohen turned over only $1,173 to the police evidence room and used his supervisory position to intimidate “R.K.” into going along with the theft.
Cohen’s attorney, Robert De Luca told the Nando Times “I think that [the charges] give a distorted and inaccurate sense of what occurred.”
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael L. Levy could not be reached by press time for comment.
Cohen, if convicted, could face a maximum of 46 years in prison and a $1.35 million fine.
He has not be arrested as of last night, officials said.