JACKSON, Miss. (AP)—Six current or former Mississippi law-enforcement officers have pleaded guilty to date, and another has been found not guilty, in an alleged drug-trafficking bribery scheme that ensnared 20 people, including two sheriffs.
Federal indictments filed in October allege 14 current or former Mississippi law-enforcement officers took bribes from an FBI agent posing as a member of a Mexican drug cartel in exchange for helping to transport 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of cocaine through Mississippi Delta counties and into Memphis.
Six other people—three in Mississippi and three in Tennessee—were also charged.
The indictments included officers from multiple law-enforcement agencies in the Mississippi Delta, which includes the western portion of central and north Mississippi.
Chaka Gaines, who was a police officer at the Greenville Police Department, was found not guilty by a jury on Wednesday.
Gaines had been charged with aiding and abetting the possession, transportation and distribution of illegal narcotics and using a firearm in relation to a drug-trafficking crime. During Gaines’ trial, a judge dismissed the gun charge for insufficient evidence.
“This verdict reflects a fundamental principle that the government must prove that a crime occurred; it cannot create one,” said lawyer Bridgette Morgan, who represented Gaines.
The Greenville Police Department did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ questions about Gaines’ employment status.
Martavis Moore, Jamario Sanford, Marvin Flowers, Dequarian Smith, Brandon Addison and Javery Howard—who were employed as law-enforcement officers at the time of the alleged crimes—have since accepted plea deals. They pleaded guilty to conspiracy to aid and abet the possession, transportation and distribution of illegal narcotics. Sean Williams, who was also a law-enforcement officer at the time, has filed a notice of his intent to change his plea.
The remaining law-enforcement officers, including Washington County Sheriff Milton Gaston and Humphrey’s County Sheriff Bruce Williams, and six others indicted alongside them are scheduled to face trial this summer.
