Prosecutors charged Hassan Bennett, chair of Philadelphia's police oversight commission, with bribery and witness intimidation.

Tuesday's charges are what prosecutors say he did. The $1 million bail is a custody order. Leave is the commission's step. The outlets do not agree on whether prosecutors have tied the records to his defender job, his commission role, or either one, and they do not agree on the other man's bail.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, that Hassan Bennett, 43, chair of Philadelphia's Citizens Police Oversight Commission, was arrested after prosecutors accused him of obtaining and selling confidential information about a witness in an attempted murder case. The Inquirer reported the counts are witness intimidation, bribery, conspiracy and related crimes, and that Assistant District Attorney Joseph Lanuti said bail was set at $1 million. Axios Philadelphia reported the same age, the same three named counts, and the same $1 million bail. NBC10 reported he faces bribery, witness intimidation and other charges, that a judge set bail at $1 million, and that he remained in custody as of Tuesday evening. The witness is not named here. The Inquirer reported one witness, and reported prosecutors declined to give details of the underlying attempted murder case in order to protect that person. NBC10's account said witnesses, plural. It reported an attempted murder and aggravated assault case, and a later sentence called the case a domestic violence-related attempted murder. The Inquirer did not print domestic violence or aggravated assault.

What he is accused of selling, and where prosecutors say the papers came from, is not one account. The Inquirer reported he sold photos of unredacted police reports, including the witness's full name, for $500 to Thomas Scott, 45, and that prosecutors declined to say whether he used his commission post or his job as a bail navigator at the Defender Association of Philadelphia to get them. Axios reported prosecutors say he provided court records and a witness's name for $500, and that he gained access to the information as a client advocate at the Defender Association. NBC10 reported he allegedly provided unredacted criminal case documents to Scott through his work at either the Public Defender's Office or the commission, in exchange for $500. Those are three descriptions of the same allegation. The Inquirer reported Lanuti said a recorded jail call captured Bennett's voice as he read from a report and shared the witness's name, and that Scott possessed photos of the documents. Axios reported investigators recognized his voice on a three-way prison call in which he was offered a "nickel," which the outlet said meant $500. NBC10 reported investigators uncovered the alleged exchange through jail calls in August and digital records, and quoted Lanuti: "Those documents were only supposed to go through attorneys. They're not supposed to be sold outside the legal system for $500."

Scott's charges and bail are also split. The Inquirer reported Scott is charged with witness intimidation and criminal use of a communication facility and is held on $2 million bail, and that Lanuti said posts on accounts linked to Scott were an attempt to "prevent witness from coming to court," including a threat to "blow down the witness in broad day." NBC10 reported Scott faces the same charges as Bennett and was held on $3 million bail. Axios did not print Scott's bail or a communication-facility count. The Inquirer reported William Fritze, chief of the Gun Violence Task Force, said the investigation of Bennett is ongoing. NBC10 quoted Fritze calling it "disgraceful" that people who hold police accountable should hold themselves to a higher standard. The Inquirer reported prosecutors said they were still working to determine how Bennett and Scott knew each other.

The commission and the defender office have not said the same thing. NBC10 published a commission statement that Bennett is on leave, that the commission will not comment on allegations under investigation, and that "Our responsibility to the people of Philadelphia remains unchanged." Axios reported the commission said he has been placed on leave while the case is pending and used the same responsibility sentence. The Inquirer quoted executive director Tonya McClary saying the commission would not comment on the allegations this early and that the responsibility to the people of Philadelphia remains unchanged. The Inquirer did not print that he had been placed on leave. Axios reported the Defender Association said it is moving to fire him, called the allegations "exceptionally serious," and said any conduct that breaches its duty to clients "is entirely unacceptable." The Inquirer reported spokesperson George Jackson did not immediately comment, that chief defender Keisha Hudson did not return a call, and that it was not immediately clear whether Bennett remained employed there. The Inquirer also reported he was acquitted in 2019 at a fourth trial in the 2006 killing of Devon English, after a conviction was overturned, and that District Attorney Larry Krasner said Tuesday he believed Bennett had committed that murder but that the case was tainted by former detective James Pitts. The 2019 result the Inquirer reported is an acquittal. Tuesday's new counts are charges. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.