OXFORD, Miss.—A wide-ranging FBI sting has ensnared some of the top law enforcement officers around multiple Mississippi Delta counties, in what the agency is calling a “Delta drug conspiracy.” FBI officials allege that over a dozen different law enforcement officials across Mississippi have been engaged in a complex and long-running drug trafficking operation.
In an early morning raid on Oct. 30 around 5 a.m., federal agents arrested the sheriffs of two counties: Sheriff Bruce Williams of Humphreys County and Sheriff Milton M. Gaston of Washington County. The FBI also arrested Marvin Flowers, the chief deputy of Sunflower County.
The full list of affected agencies and arrested officers cuts across numerous local agencies, municipal police departments and sheriff’s departments in the Delta.
14 Officers Indicted
The first series of indictments concerned an alleged conspiracy “ whereby law enforcement officers and their accomplices are alleged to have agreed to provide safe passage for illegal narcotics and drug proceeds to the Mississippi Delta region and ultimately on the last of those runs into Memphis itself,” Acting U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner said during a Thursday afternoon press conference in Oxford, Mississippi. “They did this in return for bribe payments for money. They are also indicted for related firearms offenses and individual counts related to specific runs throughout the Mississippi Delta.”
The indictment included the following:
- Bruce Williams, Sheriff of Humphreys County
- Milton Gaston, Sheriff of Washington County
- Brandon Addison, of the Hollandale Police Department and the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Office
- Javery Howard of the Metcalf Police Department and Hollandale Police Department
- Truron Grayson of the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Office
- Sean Williams, Yazoo City Police Department
- Dexture Franklin, Washington County Sheriff’s Office
- Wendell Johnson, Bolivar County Sheriff’s Office
- Marcus Nolan,
- Aasahn Roach
- Jeremy Sallis
- Torio Chaz Wiseman
- Pierre Lakes
- Derrik Wallace
Joyner alleged that the individuals acted, in many cases, as an organized unit.
“A conspiracy implies, definitively, a network of people working together for common purpose. And here we’ve already identified what that common purpose was,” Joyner said. “For instance, on that large-scale indictment, the last six names that I read, that’s what we internally refer to as the ‘Memphis crew.’ Because when those drugs got to the state line, those folks were recruited by someone who’s already in the conspiracy that knew those folks would do that.”
Another indictment named Jamario Sanford of the Greenwood Police Department and Marvin Flowers, chief deputy at the Sunflower County Sheriff’s Department. The indictment described the alleged transport of what the defendants allegedly believed to be 25 kilograms of cocaine through the Mississippi Delta
The FBI announced individual indictments for Martavis Moore, Marquivious Bankhead, a Mississippi Highway Patrolman, Chaka Gaines of the Greenville Police Department and Dequarian Smith, who is with both the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Department and Isola Police Department.
Two indictments against two other individuals were dismissed. While these indictments are now public, Joyner stressed that neither individual was implicated in any wrongdoing. The Mississippi Free Press is not naming those individuals.
All of the individuals arrested in today’s federal sweep are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Joyner confirmed that all of the individuals have been granted bond, although which individuals have successfully bonded out is not known at this time. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Mims will be prosecuting the cases.
Andrew Bailey, co-deputy director of the FBI, joined Joyner at the podium to underscore the gravity of the allegations.
“These indictments are a success, but they point to a troubling reality,” Bailey said. “We’re talking about 14 current or former law enforcement officers and six co-conspirators, who are alleged to have sold out the public, promoted crimes that they should have been investigating and stopped, and instead of working to stem the flow of dangerous controlled substances, the evidence will show that they took bribes to facilitate the flow of controlled substances. They betrayed the trust that the public placed in them, disgraced the badge and undermined the hard work of good law enforcement officers across this state and across the region.”
In an earlier statement, the FBI informed Mississippi news agencies of the “the arrests of multiple individuals in connection with a Mississippi Delta Drug Conspiracy Takedown,” promising to release more information at the 4 P.M. press conference in Oxford.
The FBI’s press event describes a network of police protection for drug trafficking, in which many of the officers would escort what they believed to be narcotics across the state and into Memphis. The plot amounted to an extensive network of “ systemic law enforcement corruption that crossed multiple counties in the Delta,” Joyner said.
“These corrupt law enforcement officers provided protection to those whom they believed were drug traffickers,” he said.
And it was drug dealers themselves whose tips alleging that law enforcement officers were demanding bribes for protection led to the FBI investigation, Joyner said.
‘This Destroys the Trust’
Sunflower County Sheriff James Haywood, who was not among those arrested by the FBI nor accused of any wrongdoing, told the Mississippi Free Press in an interview on Thursday that the arrests had shaken him and damaged the reputation of law enforcement across the region.
“ This is shocking that (men) with this many years in law enforcement—30-something years, man, close to 40—would be involved in something like this.”
For years, Acting U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner alleged, the FBI probe observed extraordinary corruption on the part of many of the officers caught up in the recent sting.
“We could not go in, obviously, and arrest one of those officers, reveal the methods, reveal the people who were actually doing the hands-on work with those officers. The investigation would instantly shut down,” he said.
Haywood learned of the arrests as federal agents descended on multiple towns across the Delta in the pre-dawn raids.
“About five this morning, I was notified by phone by the FBI that they had taken Chief Deputy Marvin Flowers into custody,” Haywood said.
“They have arrested at least one state trooper. Just numerous people. Too many to even talk about right now,” he said.
Regardless of what comes next, Haywood added, trust will take a long time to repair.
“This destroys the trust in the community … now we gotta work on gaining that trust back,” he said. “We gotta work hard.”
Humphreys County Supervisor Woodrow Johnson told the Mississippi Free Press on Thursday morning that his board was meeting in the afternoon to discuss the leadership of the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Department in the wake of the arrests.
“We haven’t made that decision yet. We have an emergency meeting (this afternoon) and we will determine it then,” Johnson said earlier Thursday. “We’ll have to meet with the board attorney and then we can make decisions.”
Lee Gordon, vice chairman of the Washington County Board of Supervisors, told the Mississippi Free Press in a brief interview that Chief Deputy Billy Barber is now in command at the Washington County Sheriff’s Department following Sheriff Gaston’s arrest.
“ We have not met as a board of supervisors yet to discuss anything. I guess we’re just hearing the same things y’all are hearing,” Gordon said.