12 former deputies, corrections officers convicted on drug conspiracy charges
Fourteen individuals, including eight former Northampton law enforcement officers and four correctional officers, were convicted Tuesday for their role in a large-scale drug trafficking organization.
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In April 2013, the FBI began an undercover investigation following allegations of corruption within the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office. The group conspired to move large shipments of heroin and cocaine along the Interstate 95 corridor, authorities said.
Those charged said they were recruited to work for the drug trafficking organization because of their status as law enforcement officers or because they had ties to law enforcement. They transported narcotics and proceeds for the drug trafficking organization in exchange for bribe payments and some were carrying firearms, authorities said.
“It was devastating when I first got wind of it,” said Northampton County Sheriff Jack Smith last year, when the investigation concluded. “If people commit these crimes, regardless of who they are, they should be brought to justice.”
Fifteen people were arrested in April 2015 and the following pleaded guilty to an assortment of charges:
- Former Virginia Department of Corrections officer Lann Tjuan Clanton pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy and firearm charges Tuesday
- Former Northampton deputy Ikeisha Jacobs pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy, firearm and bribery charges Tuesday
- Former Northampton deputies Jason Boone, Curtis Boone, Thomas Jefferson Allen II and Jimmy Pair Jr. pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy and bribery charges Tuesday
- Former North Carolina Department of Public Safety corrections officer Adrienne Moody and former Northampton deputies Cory Jackson and Alphonso Ponton pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge Tuesday
- Former Northampton deputy Wardie Vincent Jr. previously pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy and firearms charges
- Former North Carolina Department of Public Safety corrections officers Alaina Sue-Kam-Ling and Kavon Phillips previously pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge
- Crystal Pierce, of Raleigh, North Carolina, previously pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge
- Tosha Dailey, a former 911 dispatch operator for Northampton County, previously pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge
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