Bridgeton Cop Sentenced For Taking Bribe From Dealer

​The United States Attorney for Eastern Missouri announced yesterday a two-year sentence for William Scott Haenel, 38, a former Bridgeton cop who admitted to accepting a $5,000 bribe from a drug dealer he didn't realize was working for the feds.

Court documents reveal that Haenel, who also worked for the North County Municipal Enforcement Group (a drug task force), tipped off the informant to an imminent raid of his house by members of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Prosecutors refer to the informant as "R.O." According to the documents, "the Defendant advised R.O. to leave the residence and to get any money out of the residence before the agents and police arrived."

Ten days beforehand, Haenel had accepted the $5,000 bribe from R.O. in a Target parking lot in Bridgeton. (Little did he know, the money had come straight from the FBI.) In exchange, Haenel agreed to turn a blind eye to R.O.'s drug dealings and use his influence as a police officer to conceal R.O.'s future transactions.

The Feds had been investigating Haenel since November 2010.

See plea agreement below.

Haenel Plea