Former Virginia Beach Police Investigator Sentenced to 12.5 Years In Prison

This past week, a federal judge in Norfolk sentenced retired homicide detective, Robert Glenn Ford of Virginia Beach, to 12 years and 6 months in prison for taking bribes from criminals and lying to the FBI. Last October, a jury found Ford guilty on two counts of extortion and one count of lying to the FBI.

The evidence presented at trial suggested that Ford had been obtaining payments from criminals in exchange for securing their release on bond. The evidence also suggested that Ford has assisted multiple individuals in obtaining reduced prison sentences by providing false information to prosecutors and judges. Ford was also accused of stealing money from a fund that paid out monetary rewards for tips to police by fraudulently using his own informants to provide tips in exchange for a share of the reward proceeds.

Ford had worked with the Norfolk police force for over 30 years. During his tenure he worked on several high-profile cases such as the “Norfolk 4” case where four sailors were allegedly forced to confess to raping and murdering a woman. The four men who were originally sentenced to life in prison were later pardoned after serving numerous years behind bars.

In another case where Ford was involved, a Virginia man, John Danser, was convicted of murdering a Virginia woman after Ford allegedly instructed a witness to say that Danser was involved in the homicide. The witness later retracted his statement stating that Danser was not involved. Ford ignored the retraction. Danser was released from prison in 1999 after his attorney secured evidence that proved that Danser was in Philadelphia at the time the murder was committed in Virginia. Local news sources have reported that the Virginia Attorney General’s Office will be reviewing and handling all of Ford’s former cases.