GREENVILLE — Another former law enforcement officer pleaded guilty Friday to charges tied to a federal crackdown on drug trafficking in the Mississippi Delta.
Former Greenwood police officer Jamario Sanford, 38, pleaded guilty to charges involving the transportation and distribution of cocaine through Leflore, Sunflower and Washington counties.
Sanford also pleaded guilty to conspiracy. He was indicted for accepting a $5,000 bribe from an FBI agent posing as a Mexican drug cartel member in exchange for protecting illegal drug shipments on June 22, 2022. He was paid an additional $7,800 in bribes partly for future jobs.
Sanford had also been indicted for carrying or using a firearm during drug trafficking and an attempt to aid and abet a transport of illegal drugs, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi dropped the charges as part of Sanford’s plea agreement.
On Friday, U.S. Chief Judge Debra M. Brown of the Northern District of Mississippi asked Sanford to describe any medication he takes to determine his fitness to enter a guilty plea. He said he takes medications for nerve pain, anxiety and depression.
Sanford, who walks with a cane, said he has experienced emotional trauma and physical pain after being shot in 2024. He also described how, while working as a police officer in Shaw in 2014, he struggled with a suspect after an officer involved shooting. He said the experience caused him “severe trauma.”
Brown also asked Sanford about getting arrested for simple assault on Jan. 24. Sanford said the charges will be dropped.
Brown accepted Sanford’s guilty plea and set sentencing for May 27. Brown released Sanford on the conditions of the $10,000 unsecured bond after his Oct. 30 arrest.
Sanford was arrested on Oct. 30 along with former Sunflower County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Marvin Flowers and Greenwood Police Department Officer Tyquana Rucker as part of the conspiracy and aiding the transport of illegal drugs. The U.S. Attorney’s Office dropped Rucker’s charges on Oct. 30 due to exonerating evidence from subsequent interviews with sources. Flowers is set to stand trial on Apr. 20 in Greenville’s federal courthouse.
Sanford declined to comment to Mississippi Today.
Under federal guidelines, Sanford can be sentenced to between 10 years and life in prison. He could also face up to $10 million in fines.
On Oct. 30, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed six indictments, which ensnared more than 14 current and former Mississippi Delta law enforcement officers, including former Washington County Sheriff Milton Gaston and former Humphreys County Sheriff Bruce Williams, on drug trafficking charges.
The Justice Department charged current and former officers from sheriff’s offices in Washington, Humphreys and Sunflower counties and police departments in Greenville, Greenwood, Isola, Hollandale, Metcalfe and Yazoo City.
The department also charged Mississippi Delta-based former highway patrolman Marquivius Bankhead and former state Department of Corrections guard Marcus Nolan on drug trafficking charges.
In a separate indictment, prosecutors alleged Sanford recruited Dequarian Smith, then a law enforcement officer with the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Office and the Isola Police Department, to protect a transport of illegal drugs through portions of the Mississippi Delta. Smith pleaded guilty on Feb. 11 to charges of conspiring to transport illegal drugs and for accepting a $500 bribe.
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