Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Police Oversight Chair Hassan Bennett Charged With Bribery and Witness Intimidation

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and the office's Gun Violence Task Force announced charges on Tuesday against Hassan Bennett, the chair of the Philadelphia Citizens Police Oversight Commission, for selling sensitive information about a witness in a domestic violence case.

The District Attorney's Office approved four charges against Bennett and against Thomas Scott: intimidation of a witness or victim, conspiracy, bribery, and criminal use of a communication facility. Bennett, 43, also works as an employee of the Defender Association of Philadelphia, the city's public defender office.

What prosecutors say happened

In August 2026, the Gun Violence Task Force became aware that Scott was using recorded prison calls and social media to try to intimidate a witness in an attempted murder case, according to the district attorney's release. Investigators recorded Scott saying that he was searching for the witness's location, that the witness needed to recant his statement, and that the purpose of his social media posts was to prevent the witness from coming to court.

During one of those calls, investigators heard Scott speaking with Bennett. Prosecutors say Bennett read the arrest report of the attempted murder case to Scott and provided Scott with the witness's full name. Scott told Bennett that he needed a copy of the paperwork and offered to pay Bennett 500 dollars. Based on a digital analysis, investigators say Scott did obtain the documents and was sending them to various individuals in order to intimidate the witness in the open case.

NBC10 Philadelphia reported that the documents Bennett allegedly provided were unredacted criminal case documents. Documents released to the public are usually redacted to protect sensitive information. Assistant District Attorney Joseph Lanuti told NBC10: "Those documents were only supposed to go through attorneys. They're not supposed to be sold outside the legal system for 500 dollars."

Reaction and bail

Bennett is being held on 1 million dollars bail, and Scott is being held on 3 million dollars bail, the district attorney's office said.

The Citizens Police Oversight Commission told NBC10 that it has been made aware of Bennett's arrest, that Bennett is currently on leave, and that it will respect the legal process and take appropriate steps to protect confidential information. City Councilmember Curtis Jones, who helped staff the commission, called the allegations very troubling, NBC10 reported.

"Our criminal legal system relies on victims and witnesses coming forward to provide information and, in many cases, testify in court," District Attorney Larry Krasner said in the release. "Defendant Hassan Bennett not only committed serious crimes, but in doing so has violated the public's trust."

Assistant District Attorney William Fritze, chief of the Gun Violence Task Force, said: "It is absolutely disgraceful that someone who was entrusted to provide critical oversight of police officers and employed by the Defender Association of Philadelphia would engage in selling sensitive information that could have resulted in serious harm to a victim."

Background and investigation

Bennett was previously convicted of second degree murder in 2008, but was acquitted in 2019 during a retrial after one of the victims and a co-defendant both testified that their statements or previous testimony implicating Bennett had been coerced by a then homicide detective, the district attorney's office said.

The investigation was led by Attorney General Agent Dustin Gremo, a Gun Violence Task Force agent and a task force officer with the FBI, with criminal investigative analyst Olivia Law assisting on the digital evidence. The district attorney's office credited cooperation from the Attorney General's Office, the Philadelphia Police Department, the Philadelphia Department of Prisons Security and Intelligence Unit, and the FBI.