14 current or ex-Mississippi law enforcement officers plead not guilty
in drug-trafficking scheme
[November 12, 2025]
By SOPHIE BATES
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Twenty people, including 14 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 transport to people they
believed 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
transport 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of cocaine through Mississippi
counties and into Memphis. Some 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 believed 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, said 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 said.
A lawyer for Gaston did not immediately respond to messages seeking
comment.
All law enforcement officers charged in the case were offered a $10,000
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.
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The seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is displayed at its
headquarters in Washington, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis
Magana, File)
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 said 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 public trust in law
enforcement, Robert Eikhoff, special agent in charge of the FBI’s
Jackson Field Office, said when the charges were announced last
month.
During the same press conference, U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner called
the alleged scheme a “monumental betrayal of public trust."
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