People Paper story leads to release of North Philly man

A North Philadelphia man who faced life in prison on drug charges was poised to walk free yesterday in the wake of a Daily News expose that raised questions about the cop and the informant linked to his arrest.

"The government has concluded that dismissal of this case is in the interests of justice," wrote Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Whitehead Jr. in a motion granted yesterday in federal court involving Thomas Cooper, 31.

The case, dismissed by U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe, was the first to be thrown out since the Daily News chronicled allegations that Officer Jeffrey Cujdik and his longtime informant, Ventura Martinez, lied about drug buys so Cujdik could obtain search warrants for targeted houses. A local and federal task force is investigating the allegations. Hundreds of criminal cases are at stake.

Cujdik's attorney, George Bochetto, said last week that the allegations are false and that all of Cujdik's searches and arrests were proper.

Cooper's public defender, Nina Carpiniello Spizer, said she had been troubled by the case because the warrant gave an inaccurate description and nickname for her client. "We knew something wasn't right," said Spizer, who works for the Federal Community Defender Office.

"We never suspected that this was all made up," she said. "We didn't know until it came out in the newspaper."

Barry Gross, a former federal prosecutor and now a partner at the DrinkerBiddle law firm, characterized the case as highly unusual.

"As a prosecutor . . . all of a sudden this allegation comes up about an officer you've been working with, and it's sort of like a punch in your stomach," he said.

In an application for a search warrant in August 2007, Cujdik said that Martinez had tipped him off to a guy nicknamed "Pooh Bear," who stores guns and sells marijuana and crack from his house, on Franklin Street near Diamond.

Cujdik said he and Officer Robert McDonnell met with Martinez and watched him buy marijuana from Pooh Bear, describing him as about 25 years old, with a "thin build."

Spizer's client, Thomas Cooper, however, weighs about 350 pounds.

And, in a recent interview, Martinez said he'd never heard of "Pooh Bear" and didn't know the case existed until after the Daily News story broke.

"I never heard of a guy named 'Pooh Bear,' " Martinez said. "I never made a buy at this place."