FBI tip improves on 'The Legend'

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, May, 2008 | by John Shiffman and George Anastasia Inquirer Staff Writers

Five years ago, when young FBI Agent Bill Shute nicknamed veteran Jesse Coleman "The Legend," a few young agents mocked Shute as a brownnose. Today, few would challenge Coleman's bona fides. Though recently retired, Coleman fed Shute the key tip that last week helped catch a fugitive in the killing of Philadelphia Police Sgt.

Stephen Liczbinski. Coleman, 55, has been at the center of the action for nearly three decades. He put away several of the city's most notorious drug dealers, worked undercover against Sicilian mobsters, and discovered evidence that triggered the City Hall corruption investigation. When that case burst prematurely into public view, Coleman was the agent selected to interrogate then-Mayor John F. Street. Coleman carried a no-nonsense law-and-order...