A Second Former Savannah-Chatham Police Officer is Charged and Pleads Guilty in Extortion Scheme

SAVANNAH, GA—KELVIN J. FRAZIER, 35, a former Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police (SCMPD) officer, pled guilty today in federal district court before United States District Judge William T. Moore, Jr. for his role in the extortion of drugs and other items from a patron at a local Savannah nightclub.

United States Attorney Edward J. Tarver said, “Prosecuting public corruption is one of the highest priorities of the United States Attorney’s Office. This former police officer is accused of using his badge to participate in, and then cover up a crime. While the public should be reminded that the vast majority of law enforcement officers live by their oaths, the public should also know that this office will actively prosecute those who commit crimes while masquerading as police.”

According to evidence presented during today’s guilty plea hearing, in 2010, federal law enforcement received information that an SCMPD officer providing off-duty security at a local Savannah night club was extorting narcotics from area drug dealers within the club and selling the drugs for his own benefit. In the early morning hours of May 22, 2010, a law enforcement informant posing as a drug dealer entered the Savannah night club with a cell phone, a bottle of placebo Oxycontin pills and other items. Soon after entering the club, the informant was forcibly taken by off-duty SCMPD officers, including Frazier, to a secluded area of the club. Through the wrongful use of force, intimidation and under the color of official right, the placebo drugs and cell phone were taken from the informant. The informant was then escorted from the club and released. Frazier later took steps to hide the crime from detection.

Frazier pled guilty to a single-count information charging him with misprision, having knowledge of a crime and taking affirmative acts to conceal it. Misprision carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Frazier was placed on a $10,000 bond pending his sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled.

The charges against Frazier arose out of a joint investigation by the FBI and DEA. First Assistant United States Attorney James D. Durham is prosecuting the case for the United States.