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NYPD officer pleads guilty to plotting murder of detective

Trotman arrived at federal court, top, on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to crimes including armed robbery, stealing from drug dealers and plotting to murder a New York police detective

NEW YORK (CNN) -- An 11-year veteran of the New York City Police Department pled guilty Wednesday to plotting the murder of a high-ranking NYPD detective.

NYPD Officer Anthony Trotman admitted he and his partner, Jamil Jordan, conspired to kill the detective after he exposed the two officers to federal perjury charges in a 1997 gun arrest.

Trotman also pleaded guilty to other crimes, including armed robbery and shaking down drug dealers for cash, committed during a three-year spree in Brooklyn, Staten Island, Long Island and the Bronx.

Jordan, who was arraigned on similar charges Tuesday, pleaded not guilty. He is in custody pending further hearings.

A police spokesman declined comment on the scandal in Brooklyn's 77th Precinct. He would only say the matter was being handled by federal authorities.

The actions of the two officers came to light during the trial of a gang member now underway in federal court in Brooklyn.

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Prosecutors said Trotman and Jordan plotted with several gang members to rob a Long Island jewelry store. A half-million dollars in watches, broaches and other jewelry were stolen during the 1997 armed heist. In the course of his plea, Trotman admitted taking part in the operation.

"During the robbery I carried my service revolver," he said.

Clifford Woodward, a prosecution witness who admitted stealing more than a dozen Rolex watches during that robbery, identified Trotman Wednesday and confirmed he was part of the heist.

Asked by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Smith how he knew Trotman was a police officer, Woodward said, "He got out of a blue and white (squad car) with his uniform on."

Jordan was not at the jewelry store during the robbery but, prosecutors said, he did receive a stolen Tag Heuer silver watch.

The murder plot was apparently devised in 1998. Prosecutors said Trotman and Jordan were angry at Detective Michael Paul for contradicting their testimony in a gun case -- exposing the two officers to federal perjury charges.

In his plea, Trotman admitted using a police computer to get the detective's home address. The reason, said Trotman, was "to retaliate" against the detective.

In other charges, the two cops are accused of giving gang members their "police raid jackets" to rob a nightclub owner suspected of drug dealing.

The indictment also charges the two with robbing another drug dealer.

Trotman "and Jordan showed their police shields, handcuffed the drug dealer to his car, searched the car and the drug dealer and found $2,100 in cash," court documents say. The two officers then "took the cash and left the drug dealer handcuffed to his car."

Last summer, both Trotman and Jordan were fired from the police department for lying during a federal investigation.

Trotman has been cooperating with the FBI, even wearing a wire to record a conversation he had with Jordan. He tried to get Jordan to talk about the robberies and the murder plot for which they had recruited a gang leader to carry out the hit, but Jordan said he didn't want to talk about it.

Trotman surrendered to federal authorities immediately after his plea. He faces a minimum of 25 years in prison for the gun charges alone. Because he is testifying in the gang case and cooperating with prosecutors in other matters, it is likely prosecutors will ask for a reduced sentence.

CNN Correspondent Deborah Feyerick contributed to this report

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