14 current or ex-Mississippi law enforcement officers plead not guilty in drug-trafficking scheme
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Twenty people, including 14 current or former Mississippi law enforcement officers, have pleaded not guilty to federal charges amid widespread not guilty pleas. drug trafficking conspiracy.
The indictments accuse officers from several law enforcement agencies in Mississippi of taking bribes to provide safe transportation to people they believed were drug traffickers. Six more people were arrested, three in Mississippi and three in Tennessee.
The officers allegedly realized they had helped move 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of cocaine from Mississippi counties to Memphis. Some of the officers also provided escort services to protect the transportation of drug proceeds.
Among those arrested were two Mississippi sheriffs, Washington County Sheriff Milton Gaston and Humphreys County Sheriff Bruce Williams. Both Gaston and Williams are accused of accepting thousands in bribes from someone they believed was a member of a Mexican cartel. In return, sheriffs allegedly gave the cartel their “blessing” to operate in their counties.
Attorney Michael Carr, who represents Williams, said his client maintains his innocence.
“Let’s get to the bottom of it and get it in front of a jury so that the officers and my sheriff, Bruce Williams, can have his name cleared, be publicly exonerated, and hopefully get back to work,” Carr said.
Gaston’s attorney did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
All law enforcement officers charged in the case were offered a $10,000 bail with a stipulation prohibiting them from continuing to work or seek employment as a law enforcement officer. The Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training Board also suspended the officers’ law enforcement certifications pending a full hearing before the board.
In addition to the two sheriffs, those charged include Brandon Addison, Javery Howard, Truron Grayson, Sean Williams, Dexture Franklin, Wendell Johnson, Marcus Nolan, Aasahn Roach, Jeremy Sallis, Torio Chaz Wiseman, Pierre Lakes, Derrik Wallace, Marquicious Bankhead, Chaka Gaines, Martavis Moore, Jamario Sanford, Marvin Flowers and Dequarian Smith.
The Associated Press spoke with several attorneys representing those accused and insisted their clients are innocent until proven guilty.
“He is absolutely innocent of any crime and everyone knows that,” attorney Thomas Levidiotis said about his client Dequarian Smith.
Smith was a law enforcement officer with the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Office and the Isola Police Department at the time of the alleged crime.
When the charges were announced last month, Robert Eikhoff, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Jackson Field Office, said the indictments deal a blow to the public’s already weak trust in law enforcement.
At the same press conference, U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner called the alleged scheme a “colossal betrayal of the public trust.”
