*Officers took bribes to facilitate the transport of drugs in the Mississippi Delta; federal officials began investigation after receiving complaints from drug dealers
*Names, identities, positions of compromised law enforcement suspects exposed
*“This corruption permeated all levels, spread across multiple counties, multiple jurisdictions. The Department of Justice and its subset, the FBI, will not allow wrongdoers to get away with it”-FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey
*“The Mississippi Department of Public Safety and Mississippi Department of Corrections do not condone, nor will we tolerate, conduct that violates the public’s trust, particularly from those who have taken an oath to protect and serve”– Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell and MDOC Commissioner Burl Cain
*BY CLETUS SUNDAY/INTERNATIONAL Crime Correspondent, Mississippi/Naija Standard Newspaper Inc USA
THEY are 14 law enforcement officers involved in various forms of crimes and found to have desecrated the honour and badge of policing in the United States of America by allegedly using their offices to courier Cocaine and all other drugs in Mississippi. They were busted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, FBI.
On Thursday, federal officials announced the arrests, which spanned multiple counties and multiple jurisdictions in Mississippi.
Those arrested include Washington County Sheriff Milton Gaston, Humphreys County Sheriff Bruce Williams, and Sunflower County Chief Deputy Marvin Flowers.
Other officers’ arrests include:
*Brandon Addison – Hollandale Police Dept., Humphreys Co. Sheriff’s Office
*Jabari Howard – Metcalf Police Dept., Hollandale Police
*Truron Grayson – Humphreys Co. Sheriff’s Office
*Sean Williams – Yazoo City Police Dept., Mississippi Department of Corrections
*Dexter Franklin – Washington Co. Sheriff’s Office
*Wendell Johnson – Bolivar Co. Sheriff’s Office
*Jamario Sanford – Greenwood Police Dept.
*Martavus Moore – Greenville Police Dept.
*Marquavious Bankhead – Miss. Highway Patrol
*Chaka Gaines – Greenville Police Dept.
*Dequarion Smith – Humphreys County Sheriff’s Office/Isola Police Dept.
*Marcus Nolan – Mississippi Department of Corrections
Acting U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner said the officers allegedly took bribes to allow or facilitate the transport of drugs in the Mississippi Delta, and that federal officials began the investigation after receiving complaints from drug dealers.
“This corruption permeated all levels, extended across multiple counties, multiple jurisdictions. The Department of Justice and its subset, the FBI, will not allow wrongdoers to get away with it,” said FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey.
“We will stop these kinds of disgraceful and shameful abuses of public office, and… will not tolerate corruption among America’s criminal justice system,” Bailey said.
“I guess you could characterize it as a sting,” said Attorney Joyner. “We did what we did to close the circle.”
A joint statement released by Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell and MDOC Commissioner Burl Cain said that Moore, Williams, Nolan, and Bankhead have all been “suspended or separated from employment with our respective agencies.”
“The Mississippi Department of Public Safety and Mississippi Department of Corrections do not condone, nor will we tolerate, conduct that violates the public’s trust, particularly from those who have taken an oath to protect and serve,” Cain and Tindell said.
Officials say another six co-conspirators were also arrested in the investigation.
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