A Florida officer who pleaded guilty to stealing seized DEA drugs gets 17 years in prison
A Florida police officer has been sentenced to more than 17 years behind bars after pleading guilty to stealing drugs, cash and firearms from federal investigations and admitting that he once went so far as to swap cocaine seized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration with a fake kilo made from a 3D printer.
James Hickox's sentence, handed down Monday in Jacksonville federal court, is the stiffest yet imposed against more than 20 DEA agents and task force officers charged in recent years with crimes ranging from perjury and assault to wire fraud and money laundering on behalf of the same drug cartels the DEA is charged with fighting.
Hickox, a sergeant with the Nassau County Sheriff's Office, was arrested in 2023 along with Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Joshua Earrey on charges of possession with intent to sell drugs . Both had been assigned to a DEA-led task force in Jacksonville.
As part of his plea agreement, Hickox admitted to receiving more than $420,000 for routinely stealing and selling marijuana, cocaine and other drugs seized as part of DEA operations and then falsely claiming the evidence had been destroyed following normal procedure.
He also confessed that in 2022, he swapped a kilogram of cocaine seized by the DEA with a brick made from a 3D printer sprinkled with real cocaine to make it look legitimate. Hickox said he then gave the real cocaine to a Jacksonville drug trafficker who sold it for around $20,000. About half that amount was paid to Hickox.
Hickox's father said the stress of his work for the DEA, dealing with criminal informants on a daily basis and being surrounded by large amounts of cash and drugs, contributed to his son's descent into criminality. He said the DEA needs to provide mental health counseling to properly vet its workforce and prevent other criminals from abusing the public's trust.
'They have to live two lives," his father, James Lee Hickox, told WJXT television in Jacksonville. 'You're out slinging dope for the DEA and then you go home and be a family man.'
Hickox, 38, also said he gave around 550 pounds (250 kilograms) of marijuana to one informant, receiving about $200 to $400 for every pound sold.
On another occasion, according to the plea agreement, he and Earrey staged a fake traffic stop to seize what they thought were 6 kilograms (13 pounds) of fentanyl arriving from another state.
When authorities searched Hickox's house, they found cocaine, methamphetamine pills and a powdery substance containing fentanyl, as well as several firearms that had been seized during law enforcement operations. The narcotics were found in a converted garage labeled 'Gator's Man Cave.'
Hickox, in his plea agreement, also admitted to routinely breaking into DEA evidence bags, stealing thousands of dollars in cash and then resealing the bags, or repacking the currency into another heat-sealed bag with forged signatures, to cover his tracks.
"Law enforcement officers who operate as though they are above the law betray the badge and the citizens they swore to protect,' FBI Jacksonville Special Agent in Charge Kristin Rehler said in a statement.
Earrey is scheduled to be sentenced in April.
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