NORTH CAROLINA
A former police officer found guilty of drug, firearm and bribery charges stemming from his participation in trafficking narcotics for a large-scale drug trafficking organization will be sentenced in August.
Antonio Tillmon, 33, a former police officer with the Windsor City Police Department, was found guilty of multiple counts of conspiring to distribute controlled substances, attempting to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, conspiring to use and carry firearms in relation to drug trafficking offenses, using and carrying firearms in relation to drug trafficking offenses and federal programs bribery.
Fourteen other defendants, 13 of whom were law enforcement or correctional officers, were charged in the drug trafficking and firearm conspiracies – the law enforcement and correctional officers were also charged with federal programs bribery.
The defendants were charged with protecting cocaine and heroin shipments along the East Coast.
Those defendants all plead guilty to various offenses and are scheduled to be sentenced later this year. Tillmon is the only charged defendant who proceeded to trial.
The charges stemmed from a large-scale undercover investigation into allegations of systemic law enforcement corruption in Northampton County, North Carolina.
The evidence indicated that Tillmon accepted $6,500 from undercover FBI agents posing as drug traffickers in return for transporting a total of 66 pounds of heroin from North Carolina to Maryland over three separate occasions between August 2014 and April 2015.
On each occasion, Tillmon carried his law enforcement badge and a firearm to secure the illicit narcotics.
Tillmon was prepared to use his badge and fake documentation to evade drug interdiction in the event the transport vehicle was stopped.
The evidence also showed that Tillmon agreed to participate in a fourth drug transport, to which he brought five firearms, including an assault rifle accompanied by three magazines of ammunition.
ere’s the full list of suspects
–Lann Tjuan Clanton, 36, a correctional officer with the Virginia Department of Corrections;
–Ikeisha Jacobs, 32, a deputy with the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office;
–Jason Boone, 29, a deputy with the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office;
–Wardie Vincent Jr., 35, formerly of the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office;
–Adrienne Moody, 39, a correctional officer with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety;
–Cory Jackson, 43, formerly of the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office;
–Jimmy Pair Jr., 48, a deputy with the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office;
–Curtis Boone, 31, a deputy with the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office;
–Antonio Tillmon, 31, a police officer with the Windsor City Police Department;
–Alaina Sue Kam Ling, 27, a correctional officer with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety;
–Kavon Phillips, 25, a correctional officer with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety;
–Crystal Pierce, 31, of Raleigh, North Carolina;
–Alphonso Ponton, 42, a correctional officer with the Virginia Department of Corrections;
–Thomas Jefferson Allen II, 37, a deputy with the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office; and
–Tosha Dailey, 31, a 911 dispatch operator for Northampton County.
(May 2015 News Report)