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Former Prichard police officer Edmond Burke sits in court Monday at the Mobile County Circuit Courthouse. (Casey Toner/ctoner@al.com)

The former Prichard police officer who used his badge as cover for drug deals was sentenced to 36 years in prison and fined more than $100,000 on Monday in Mobile County Circuit Court.



Edmond Burke, 35, was found guilty in February of drug trafficking, possession of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana.



"Whatever reason you made the choice you did, I don't know," said Mobile County Circuit Court Presiding Judge Charles Graddick during the sentencing hearing. "As a police officer, that's the wrong decision and you knew better."



Edmond Burke and his cousin, Raymond "Roc" Williams, were arrested during a sting operation conducted by the Mobile County Sheriff's Office and federal agents on Aug. 2, 2013, at the TA truck stop in Grand Bay.



Burke and his cousin picked up a shipment 5 kilograms of cocaine from a Hispanic undercover agent. They were told they would receive $15,000 to pick up the drugs, which they were holding for an acquaintance in prison, Darrin Southall, who arranged the deal for police.



Later, police found a jar of cocaine and a jar of marijuana in Burke's bedroom. Burke said that he seized it from "random drug dealers" on the street in his capacity as a Prichard police officer and was using it to train a police dog.



Burke testified on his own behalf and said he would rather die than deal drugs. He maintained that he went to the truck stop unaware of the transaction.



"I went into this thing not knowing anything," Burke said. "This was my cousin that I trusted with my life."



But Graddick insisted that Burke knew better than to drive his cousin to south Mobile County to meet an unknown Hispanic man without asking why.



"You're not a stupid guy, you're not naive," Graddick said. "Your law enforcement background should have been jumping all over you and it probably was."



Burke wiped tears from his eyes as friends and family members testified on his behalf.



Former Prichard detective Dwight King recalled hiring Burke, training him, and sending him to the police academy. He said he hired Burke in part to "break the yoke" of crime running in Burke's family.

Two of Burke's brothers have criminal offenses in their backgrounds, he said.

"He made decisions he wish he could change, we all do," Burke said. "I don't think it would be justice to sentence this young man to an extreme amount of time."



Prichard police Cpl. Tashaon Pettway said that he and Burke both grew up in Prichard "around drugs."



"We choose wanted to do something better, to do something different," Pettway said. "I knew he was a guy who tried to uphold the law and do things that were right."



But Mobile County Assistant District Attorney Patrick Doggett pleaded for a lengthier sentence, stating that Burke masked his friends' criminal activities to "further criminal activity in the community."



"When someone in that fraternity or that particular family of law enforcement officials goes rogue like Mr. Burke did, it's important to show it won't be tolerated in the community," Doggett said.