Opinion ID: 3014747
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Jacobs’ history as an informant.

Text: Jacobs was a confidential informant for the Wilmington Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) for ten years prior to March 2000. Her primary law enforcement contact, or “case handler,” was Wilmington police detective Liam Sullivan, a Special Federal Officer (“SFO”) on an FBI task force. To persuade Jacobs to become an FBI informant, Sullivan told her that he had become affiliated with the FBI and that it would pay more than the Wilmington police for information. Jacobs provided information to the FBI about fugitives, top-level Wilmington drug dealers, and current community criminal trends. Sullivan characterized Jacobs as a “good” informant and an “outstanding source of information.” If Sullivan and Jacobs were working on a specific case they 1 We have jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3731. 3 would meet daily, but otherwise their meetings were more sporadic. The FBI sometimes paid Jacobs for information. From August 1997 to January 2000 she was paid five times for a total of $3,450. Sullivan also assisted Jacobs when she was charged with criminal offenses. Sullivan stated: “The exact amount of times that I spoke with prosecutors and/or probation officers, there were several times. I know that I advised prosecutors and/or probation officers that . . . she was cooperating and providing very valuable information and should be considered for some, I guess, assistance.” Jacobs was regularly admonished not to engage in any unlawful acts except as specifically authorized.2 Between 1997 and 1999 the FBI sometimes authorized Jacobs to engage in criminal activity in order to provide intelligence for the FBI. For example, in 1999 Jacobs was authorized to travel to New York to bring back cocaine to targeted individuals in Philadelphia.