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Corbett son-in-law, a narcotics officer, under FBI probe

Gerold Gibson was taken off the street, sources said.

GALLERY: Gerold Gibson was taken off the street,…

By Mike Newall and Allison Steele, Inquirer Staff Writers

Posted: February 02, 2013

The son-in-law of Gov. Corbett, a narcotics officer with the Philadelphia Police Department, is under investigation by the FBI and was removed from the street Thursday, sources said.

The Philadelphia Police Department confirmed that a narcotics officer was taken off the street and placed on administrative leave Thursday, following the results of an FBI and Internal Affairs investigation. The department said it would not identify the officer because he had not been arrested or formally charged.

Sources identified him as Gerold Gibson, husband of Corbett's daughter Katherine. Gibson could not be reached for comment Thursday.

He was targeted by the U.S. Attorney's Anti-Corruption Unit, and his supervisors were aware of the sting, law enforcement sources said. He has been under investigation for at least eight months, sources said.

Law enforcement sources described the sting:

Federal agents and police Internal Affairs investigators placed $400 in marked money in a car for Gibson to investigate. The bills were sprayed with a powder used by police in controlled drug busts, and the car was equipped with surveillance cameras.

Gibson was told that police had a warrant to search the car and was asked to bring it back to the Narcotics Field Unit for a search. When investigators checked the car after he did so, about $145 was missing.

Investigators recovered the money after searching Gibson and his personal car. He also had the powder on his hands.

At a Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce event Thursday evening, Corbett quickly left the stage via a back door after an hour-long discussion billed as "A conversation with the governor" as reporters waited to ask him questions about his son-in-law.

Corbett issued a brief statement: "I was surprised and concerned to learn about the allegations regarding my son-in-law Gerold Gibson. Susan and I continue to give our family our love and support."

Sources said the couple have separated.

Katherine Corbett Gibson is a deputy attorney general in the Philadelphia office. She started in March 2012 and, as of late last year, was assigned to the office's Drug Strike Force section.

Before that, she was a prosecutor with the Habitual Offenders Unit of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office.

Contact Mike Newall

at 215-854-2759 or mnewall@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @MikeNewall.

Inquirer staff writers Angela Couloumbis, Bob Fernandez, and Amy Worden contributed to this article.