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Lester "Les" Cooper is the secondary antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Rotten".
He is a dirty cop and hitman, who along with his partner Luke Edmunds carried out vigilante justice on the streets of New York. However, Cooper secretly had ties to a drug lord and used him for other purposes.
He was portrayed by Terry Serpico, who also played Deacon Brinn and William Taverts in two later SVU episodes, Earl Danzinger in The Purge: Election Year and Captain Turner in Cobra Kai.
Biography[]
Background[]
Not much is known of him, other than he was married and served as NYPD officer for several years. Cooper was partnered with fellow officer Luke Edmunds and they patrolled the streets, while earning a good reputation for their efforts.
Unknown to their colleagues, Cooper was a secretly a dirty cop and was taking bribes from drug lord Hector Ramirez to fund a lavish lifestyle for himself. Cooper had convinced Edmunds to help him with carrying out vigilante justice to truly protect their city, because he was aware Edmunds didn't truly trust the system after the murder of his brother at the hands of a drug dealer. Cooper withheld the bribery from Edmunds, so as to keep him in the dark about his activities.
At one point, they accosted drug dealer Wilberto Angel who frequently evaded justice. The pair proceeded to shoot him, though he survived but was paralyzed from the waist and they planted a weapon on him, lying that he shot at police. As a result, Angel was sent to prison on a false attempted murder charge.
"Rotten"[]
Cooper was given an order by Ramirez to dispose of his rival Carlos Torres who he couldn't reach because of his incarceration. Cooper misled Edmunds into believing that they have to punish another drug dealer and they arrested Torres. However, rather than immediately bring him to the precinct, the pair tortured him by beating him before sodomizing him with a plunger handle. Because of the brutality he endured, Torres would die in his cell and was found by cellmate who quickly reported it to the guards.
Due to the nature of his crimes, SVU was called in and Cooper was investigated by Detective Olivia Benson. He lied about Torres' injuries, stating he could have gotten them anywhere and that he and his partner followed procedure. However, further look into the pair revealed they had been involved with more deaths that were covered up. Benson was later forbidden from looking into them by SVU Captain Donald Cragen, but she continued and was joined by her Detective Fin Tutuola. The pair interviewed Angel who identified Cooper and Edmunds as his shooters, leading to him being acquitted and released from prison.
SVU soon discovered Cooper was on the payroll of drug lord and now had evidence to arrest him and Edmunds. When Edmunds was detained and learned the truth that Cooper was no different from the criminals they investigated, he committed suicide. Once Cooper was arrested, he was represented by Trevor Langan and tried to deny his manipulation of Edmunds or his lies but was shut down after they present his finance records. They tell him to confess or face the death penalty, the maximum sentence for his crimes. With no other options, he signed the confession and told Benson and Tutuola that they were making a mistake.
In the end, he is sentenced to life in prison and Ramirez was implicated for bribery and murder.
External links[]
- Les Cooper on the Law & Order Wiki
