At a press conference in Oxford, U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner called the case a “monumental betrayal of public trust.” Officials say the indictments and arrests are the result of a years-long investigation that was kicked off by arrested drug dealers complaining they had to pay off dirty cops for protection.
To catch the officers, Joyner says the FBI carried out a controlled sting, so 55 pounds of cocaine and briefcases full of drug money weren’t really transported. But the bribes were real, with some officers taking more than $30,000.
“We had marked vehicles and uniformed officers driving down the road, protecting what everyone understood to be a drug shipment,” Joyner said.
Officials said the investigation uncovered corruption that extended across several Delta counties, including Washington, Humphreys, Bolivar, Sunflower, and Leflore. The defendants include sheriffs, deputies, police chiefs and patrol officers, some still employed by their departments at the time of arrest. Two people initially named in the indictments have since had charges dismissed.
FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey said the arrests are the first step in restoring confidence in Mississippi law enforcement.
“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,” Bailey said.
Bailey described the case as one of the largest public corruption investigations in Mississippi’s recent history, coordinated by the FBI’s Jackson Field Office with help from SWAT and hostage rescue teams across multiple states.
The arrests come just weeks after a mass shooting in Leland, a small Delta town with around 3,000 residents where six people were killed and more than a dozen wounded during homecoming celebrations. Washington County Sheriff Milton Gaston, one of the officers charged in the federal sting, had jurisdiction in Leland.
Leland residents say the community is still reeling from the shooting. Lora Delhom, editor of the town's monthly newspaper, The Leland Progress, said Gaston's arrest has only compounded their collective worry.
“Everyone has this very anxious undercurrent,” Delhom said. “We don’t really know what’s going on, and that’s worse than knowing."
All defendants have been granted bond, and Joyner says the investigation is ongoing.
“What the public needs to see, what all of us would want to see whenever you have any kind of corruption we’re dealing with, is accountability,” Joyner said.
