Two of those arrested are former 39th District police officers.
Steven "Jay" Brown went to work at Miller's only days after he was indicted along with four other officers in Philadelphia's cops-as-robbers scandal involving shakedowns and phony search warrants in the 39th.
About the same time all five officers entered guilty pleas and proclaimed their remorse before a federal judge, Brown allegedly was selling hot goods.
The other former officer arrested is Robert Miller, the store owner, who retired from the 39th in 1978 and still wears a duplicate of his police shield on an ornate gold chain.
Brown's attorney, Charles A. Peruto, did not respond to a request for comment. One of Miller's relatives, interviewed at the store yesterday, said the owner did nothing wrong.
"Don't believe this stuff, don't believe it," said Cornell Hammond, who said he was Miller's brother-in-law. "The only negative thing you can say about Bobby is that he tried to be friendly with too many people."
Miller, who two years ago purchased a four-bedroom, three-story house in Las Vegas, did not respond to a message left at his Nevada home. And he could not be reached at his second home in Philadelphia.
The other defendants - including Miller's wife, Deborah - could not be reached for comment.
Investigators say that for years - possibly since the 1980s - Robert Miller, 47, has been running the fencing operations at the store at 3154 N. Broad St., in the 39th District.
"These items were frequently sold on order," Abraham said. "Various middlemen would come to Miller's Corner or would have the goods delivered . . . and sold in various quantities to stores in and around the Philadelphia area."
Abraham said drug users from as far away as Muncy, Pa., carrying shopping bags filled with stolen goods, sold them at Bobby Miller's Corner. Most of the items were shoplifted, but some were purchased with stolen credit cards, she said.
A few blocks to the east, in the "Badlands" section of Philadelphia, she said, the drug users would spend their money on drugs.
Brown, Miller and the other defendants would then begin marketing the items, Abraham said. They would sell to stores and individuals in Philadelphia and the suburban counties.
Sometimes the buyers would know they were purchasing stolen goods, but often they did not, Abraham said.
The arrest warrant for the 10 defendants gave a detailed image of the store's operation, quoting extensively from transcripts of wiretaps made earlier this year at the store.
In a transcript of an alleged March 31 conversation - the day after Brown's guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Robert S. Gawthrop 3d - Brown is overheard telling Deborah Miller not to allow "nobody else run your business."
He told her that Robert Miller was "happy when he's wheeling and dealing."
One of the deals was illegally trading food stamps, the search warrant said.
On April 4, Miller told Brown - a former Marine, and a police officer for 13 years - that the store was "doing $500 to $1,000 a shift on stamps last month."
According to the warrants, one problem the operation faced was how to remove the original store-price stickers from the stolen items. Miller is quoted on the subject in an April 9 phone conversation with his wife. He is also talking to a man in the store. The man was Brown, investigators say.
"Lighter fluid ain't going to take that off, Steve. Alcohol or nuttin, spit maybe. That's a chance. Let me use saliva. Saliva will take it off. Nope, ain't budging. Ain't budging. Somebody wrote word Acme. . . . It's going take the blue off too, Steve. And the guy won't take it," the warrant quotes Miller as saying.
On April 16, the warrant states, Miller called Brown about a person wanting to sell a $4,000 computer "all sealed and wrapped." Brown said he would arrive at the store within five minutes.
Two days later, Miller and Brown were overheard discussing the sale of the computer, "a Zeos, Z-E-O-S, Pantera 100, with a Pentium chip."
The computer later was found to have been purchased with a stolen credit card.
State police recovered the computer from the Bucks County home of another defendant.
The warrant also quotes a conversation on April 18 in which investigators say Miller is was heard talking to another defendant about the many thieves busy shoplifting for him. It was, Miller said, "hot and heavy because everybody's out Easter shopping when the stores are crowded, that makes it easier for them" to steal.
Abraham said the store often sold stolen U.S. postage stamps at a discount.
In an April 8 wiretap, investigators say, Brown can be heard trying to sell $32 rolls of stamps for $25.
On April 25, the investigators say, Miller is overheard telling his wife that he just sold 48 rolls of stamps and "made a quick $1,200."
In addition to the Millers and Brown, of the 3100 block of Barnett Street, the other defendants are Joseph T. Basarab, of Sicklerville, N.J.; Gary Davidson, of the 200 block of Ridgeway Terrace; and Louis M. Rapoport, of the 8900 block of Sylvia Lane.
Also charged were Jerrold L. Goldfarb, of the 2300 block of Strahle Street; Ernest Lee Schwartz, of the 7100 of Oakland Street; Ross Snyder, of Bensalem; and Louis H. Miller, of Richboro.
All 10 defendants were charged with operating a corrupt organization, receiving stolen property, criminal conspiracy and related charges.
By late last night, six of the defendants, including Brown and Miller, had been arraigned and were freed on their own signatures.
As part of his plea agreement in the police-corruption case, Brown is required to tell federal investigators about his past criminal activity. But Abraham said Brown apparently had never told prosecutors about Bobby Miller's Corner.
Miller's Corner was open yesterday, though the business was limited to selling hoagies, cold cuts and hair products.
Some neighbors outside the cramped store told reporters that they long ago had heard rumors about the illegal activities.
"I heard that people went there to cash things and sell TVs and stuff," said one passerby who refused to give her name, "but I never went in there too much myself. I'd just go to buy sodas and stuff."
Hammond, Miller's brother-in-law, who has worked as a day manager at the store for eight years but was not charged with any crime, said Miller was arrested because of his friendship with Brown.
"I would go in there and I would see him (Brown) with Bobby," said Hammond, 37.
"I'd say to Bobby, 'Man, why do you have him in here? You know he's being indicted,' " he said. "Bobby would just say, 'He's all right with me. He's a cop.' "
