GREENVILLE — Former Greenwood Police Officer Jamario Sanford, 38, will serve seven-and-a-half years in federal prison for conspiring to transport cocaine through portions of the Mississippi Delta. He is now in federal custody.
Sanford approached the bench Wednesday with the aid of a cane to make a final plea for mercy from Debra Brown, chief judge for the Northern District of Mississippi. He stood from the office chair where he had been allowed to sit before standing to address the court in light of his ailments, and clutched the podium to tell of the bad choices and misfortunes that led him to participate in a drug run that was really an FBI undercover operation.
“I was in need at the time,” Sanford told the court. “I had just lost my job. My wife was about to have a child.”
He recounted a past suicide attempt, being shot eight times and other near-death experiences while working in law enforcement agencies in the Delta. He also spoke of childhood traumas and longstanding mental health conditions that have required counseling. He also brought the court’s attention to upcoming eye surgeries.
“I do belong here. And I’m asking for the mercy of this court … I’m standing against my flesh now. I’m standing myself here because I’m tired,” Sanford said.
Sanford was indicted for providing armed police escort for what he believed was the transportation of 25 kilos of cocaine through Leflore, Sunflower and Washington counties. He took bribe payments totaling $12,800 from a local drug dealer turned government informant as part of the run.
He convinced Tyquana Rucker of the Greenwood Police Department to provide police escort for a transport of narcotics on June 22, 2022. Sanford later told federal investigators that Rucker wasn’t well-informed about the circumstances of the fake drug run. Although indicted, Rucker’s charges were dropped on Oct. 30.
The story of law enforcement-assisted drug trafficking was complicated by new revalations in court. Sanford had been fired from the Greenwood Police Department by the time of the run, although he did accept bribe payments while employed as an officer. No evidence suggests Sanford or Rucker carried a gun on the night of the staged drug transport, which still garnered Sanford an enhancement as part of his probation office pre-sentence report.
Sanford also said he did not know his co-conspirator, former Sunflower County Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Marvin Flowers, and he only met Flowers on the day of their arrests in October. Flowers pleaded guilty to conspiring to attempt to aid the transport of the drugs through Sunflower County. He is scheduled to be sentenced in July.
In all 14 former and current officers were arrested as part of the federal crackdown on drug trafficking in the region. Six former Delta law enforcement officers have pleaded guilty. A jury found Greenville Police Officer Chaka Gaines not guilty in May for conspiring to attempt to aid the transportation of narcotics through Greenville. Two additional trials of former officers are scheduled this summer.
Four additional police officers are scheduled to be sentenced this summer.
The officers were charged in six indictments. At the outset of the operation, a local drug dealer and FBI informant convinced Delta officers to participate in fake drug runs simulated by federal agents as part of multiple stings.
In determining Sanford’s sentence, Brown considered his recent charges and behavior since his arrest. She was concerned that he was charged with aggravated assault while on bond for the conspiracy charge. Goodloe Lewis, his defense attorney, reminded the court that the incident from which the charge stemmed happened prior to securing his bond.
Brown also expressed concern regarding an incident at a local pool hall. A video of Sanford pushed to the ground and kicked by unknown assailants surfaced on Facebook in March. The incident took place in the parking lot near The Rack and Cue pool hall in Greenville.
Although the sentencing guideline called for between 10 years and life in prison, a pre-sentence report altered Brown’s calculation.
Lewis asked the court to have mercy on Sanford due to his health issues. He also mentioned that former police officers “don’t hold up well” in custody. He told Brown that Sanford would be “a poor candidate for prison.”
Brown said she could not get past the gravity of Sanford’s crime and its implications for civil society.
“The unchecked corruption of law enforcement is a big problem,” she said. “It makes me concerned which direction this country is headed honestly.”
The U.S. marshals then put Sanford in cuffs as he faced the gallery. Cuts and red bruises shone under his tired eyes. The marshals led him through a wood-panelled side door. He ambled into custody with their assistance.
Sanford asked to be booked in a prison near his family in Greenville.
“I don’t know if you’ve been an unlucky person in this world,” Brown told Sanford before court adjourned. “I know there’s something that got to you this day.”
