WSTM-TV News (New York)
BUFFALO, N.Y. A former investigator gave a federal jury an inside look at the corruption within the Buffalo Police Department’s scandal-plagued narcotics unit.
Rene Gil testified yesterday in the federal trial of suspended Buffalo police detectives Paul Skinner and Sylvestre Acosta.
The 45-year-old Gil described how some narcotics investigators stole money on drug raids, planted drugs on suspects and lied to judges to get search warrants.
Gil also testified about his own drug dealing, which led to arrest by the F-B-I in May 2001.
Gil is the first former detective from the narcotics unit to testify in detail about the illegal acts of several accused invetigators.
Skinner’s brother Gerald is a former detective who’s already in prison for corruption. Andres Ortiz is another suspended detective who was recently arrested on charges of providing information to a drug dealer.