14 current or ex-Mississippi law enforcement officers plead not guilty in drug-trafficking scheme

JACKSON Miss AP Twenty people including current or former Mississippi law enforcement officers have pleaded not guilty to federal charges that allege a widespread drug-trafficking conspiracy The indictments accuse officers from multiple law enforcement agencies in Mississippi of taking bribes to provide safe shipping to people they maintained were drug traffickers Six other people three in Mississippi and three in Tennessee were also arrested The officers are alleged to have understood they were helping to shipping kilograms pounds of cocaine through Mississippi counties and into Memphis Chosen of the officers also provided escort services to protect the transportation of drug proceeds Two Mississippi sheriffs Washington County Sheriff Milton Gaston and Humphreys County Sheriff Bruce Williams were among those arrested Both Gaston and Williams are accused of accepting thousands in bribes from someone they maintained to be a member of a Mexican cartel In return the sheriffs allegedly gave the cartel their blessing to operate in their counties Michael Carr an attorney representing Williams revealed his client maintains his innocence Let s just get to the merits of it and get in front of a jury so the officers and my sheriff Bruce Williams can have his name cleared can be publicly vindicated and can hopefully get back to work Carr reported A lawyer for Gaston did not directly respond to messages seeking comment All law enforcement officers charged in the matter were offered a bond with a condition that bars them from continuing or seeking employment as law enforcement officers The Mississippi Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training has also suspended the officers law enforcement certificates 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 Marquivious Bankhead Chaka Gaines Martavis Moore Jamario Sanford Marvin Flowers and Dequarian Smith The Associated Press spoke with several lawyers representing those charged who emphasized that their clients are innocent until proven guilty He is absolutely innocent of any wrongdoing whatsoever and everybody knows it attorney Thomas Levidiotis noted of his client Dequarian Smith Smith served as a law enforcement officer with the Humphreys County Sheriff s Office and Isola Police Department at the time of the alleged crime The indictments are a blow to already shaky populace trust in law enforcement Robert Eikhoff special agent in charge of the FBI s Jackson Field Office announced when the charges were communicated last month During the same press conference U S Attorney Clay Joyner called the alleged scheme a monumental betrayal of population trust Source