Former Hollandale police officer Javery Howard, 33, pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of transporting and distributing illegal drugs through parts of the Mississippi Delta and into Memphis and to conspiracy, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi said.
The office said Howard admitted to traveling to Miami twice to plan drug runs with FBI agents who were posing as Mexican cartel members. Howard was among defendants named in federal indictments that involved multiple former Mississippi Delta law enforcement officers, the Department of Justice said.
Howard was indicted in October for accepting $31,000 in bribe payments, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said, and has previously served with the Metcalfe Police Department. Co-defendant Brandon Addison, who pleaded guilty last week, served with Howard at Hollandale and Metcalfe police departments, according to court records. Howard declined to comment to Mississippi Today, the news site reported.
As part of the plea agreement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said it dropped five counts of attempting to aid and abet the transportation of illegal drugs, five counts of trafficking illegal drugs with a firearm and one count of conspiring to traffic illegal drugs in possession of a firearm. Senior U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills accepted the plea, set sentencing for Aug. 13 and released Howard on the conditions of a $10,000 unsecured bond, court records show.
The Justice Department said Howard was arrested Oct. 30 in a sweep that included former sheriffs, deputies, police officers, a corrections officer and associates accused in a conspiracy to aid and abet the transport and distribution of roughly 55 pounds of cocaine on multiple escorted runs. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said charges against one deputy, Amber Holmes, were dropped after interviews produced exonerating evidence. Federal guidelines expose Howard to a potential sentence of 10 years to life in prison and fines of up to $10 million, the office said; other defendants remain scheduled for trial and plea changes, according to court filings and the Justice Department.
