ROANOKE, Va. – A sheriff and 12 current and former officers in a hard-luck rural county that once billed itself the “Sweatshirt Capital of the World” were charged yesterday in connection with a scheme to resell drugs seized from criminals.
A former postal worker, a former probation officer and five other people also were indicted by federal prosecutors. The charges included racketeering conspiracy, weapons charges, narcotics distribution, obstruction of justice and perjury.
H. Franklin Cassell – the sheriff of Henry County, a former textile hub about 50 miles south of Roanoke – was quoted by investigators as saying the only way to acquire wealth is to be “a little crooked and not get caught.”
Cassell, 68, was a state trooper before being elected sheriff in 1991. He owns large tracts of land and a trucking company and has reported more than $20,000 in dividends yearly, the government said.
The salary range for sheriffs in counties the size of Henry County is $85,500 to $93,500, according to state law.
Prosecutors said that for the past eight years, cocaine, steroids, marijuana and other drugs that had been seized by the sheriff's department were resold to drug users. A sergeant who agreed to cooperate with investigators was paid off by the ring to use his house for distributing drugs, authorities said.
“It is disgraceful corruption,” U.S. Attorney John Brownlee said.
Cassell was charged with impeding the investigation by the FBI and federal drug enforcement agents and with money laundering. He was released on $25,000 bail.
“He's served with great dedication,” defense attorney John Lichtenstein said after Cassell's bail hearing. “Now we get an opportunity to answer the accusations.”
The county supervisors asked Cassell to resign last night.
Lichtenstein said Cassell would assess the issues and “make a decision that he believes reflects the best interests of the people.”
Fourteen others also were in custody, and police had been in contact with the rest of those indicted except for one defendant who was at large, Brownlee said. All but two were released on bail.
The sheriff's department has 96 officers. State police and officers from the Henry County city of Martinsville are helping to run the department in the meantime.
Cassell has been sheriff since 1992 in the county of about 58,000 residents along the North Carolina line.
