Officer Pleads Guilty to Corruption, Drug Charges

A former Prince George's County police officer has pleaded guilty to selling cocaine to an undercover agent and protecting the transport of untaxed cigarettes.

Sinisa Simic pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Greenbelt, Md. The Woodbridge, Va., man is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 23.

Simic admitted protecting the sale and transport of multiple shipments of contraband cigarettes in Maryland, Virginia and elsewhere. Prosecutors said he was paid by a source and an undercover agent working with the FBI. Prosecutors said he also distributed cocaine to the undercover agent and source from July 2009 to January 2010.

The 25-year-old Simic was indicted in November as part of a sweeping investigation into corruption in the county.

Simic is facing up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the extortion conspiracy and transferring a firearm in the furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and a violent crime. He is facing five to 40 years for the drug conspiracy and a mandatory five years consecutive to any other sentence for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime.