| “I’ll take a dime bag, officer.” |
Newton County, Georgia is currently down one stoney police officer.
Deputy Darrell Mathis was arrested last week after allegedly repeatedly selling marijuana while on duty and bragging about being above the law because he technically wasthe law. We’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt and call it undermining the drug war from within.
Mathis first fell on the FBI radar this past spring after a confidential informant on a “social visit” went to Mathis’s apartment and saw huge bags of herb laying around Mathis told the snitch that he wasn’t afraid of being caught driving around with it because he had a solid driving record and would pull out his cop credentials if he was ever pulled over.
The informant went on to set up a deal for an ounce, and when Mathis showed up with the goods he was in his police cruiser, in uniform and (notably) with his gun on his hip.
The latter is important, because it led to charges of carrying a firearm during a drug offense in addition to the distribution charges – meaning Mathis could face up to life in prison because guns and federally illegal substances don’t mix well in the courts.
The hammer dropped on Mathis in August after he allegedly set up a deal to run cocaine in addition to herb with another confidential informant.
When arrested, Mathis was found with a pound of herb.
U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates who is prosecuting the case was not amused. She scolded Mathis in a prepared statement: “Selling marijuana out of his police car while wearing a badge and uniform is outrageous. This case is a reminder that no one is above the law.”
Even if Mathis does manage to get past the firearms charges, he still faces distribution of less than 50 kilograms, which is a felony at the federal level with five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
While Mathis was pretty ballsy, the larger cajones go to the first dude who actually bought pot from this cop while the guy still had his uniform on.