A former Greenwood police officer whom federal authorities have accused of participating in a Delta-wide drug trafficking scheme was previously let go as an officer from the Ruleville Police Department after being accused of assaulting a prisoner.
Jamario Sanford was one of 20 people apprehended by the FBI on Oct. 30 during early morning arrest raids throughout the Delta and Shelby County, Tennessee. Fourteen of these people were members of law enforcement agencies throughout the Delta or were employed by those agencies during the time of the alleged drug trafficking, federal authorities say.
This included Sanford, who was an officer with the Greenwood Police Department from October 2021 to May 2022.
Just a day before he was let go, on May 12, 2022, the Mississippi Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training (BLEOST) held a certification review hearing for Sanford that ultimately led to the cancellation of his certificate, according to the board’s minutes of that meeting.
Operating under the state Department of Public Safety, the BLEOST is responsible for certifying law enforcement officers throughout Mississippi as well as establishing training and standards for them to follow.
The BLEOST had received an application from the Greenwood Police Department to certify Sanford, who was hired by Greenwood on Oct. 29, 2021. According to the board, newly hired officers must complete a BLEOST-approved basic training course within one year of their hire date. Agencies that continue to employ uncertified officers can face sanctions by the BLEOST.
During Sanford’s certification review hearing, the board was given information that Sanford was dismissed as a Ruleville police officer “for being out of control when he opened a jail cell and slapped a prisoner twice,” according to the board’s meeting minutes.
The Ruleville Police Department had given the BLEOST a video which showed Sanford entering a jail cell and allegedly physically assaulting a person on a bed and again after that person stood up.
Specific details about that incident, including the date and location, are not provided in the board’s meeting minutes, and the Ruleville Police Department could not be reached for comment.
According to the city of Ruleville, Sanford was an officer there between April 2017 and April 2020. The Ruleville Police Department does have a holding cell, but suspects are only detained there for six hours.
In explaining his actions, Sanford told the BLEOST at his certification hearing “that he had a lot going on in his life at that time” and that “he lost control,” according to the board’s meeting minutes. He requested a second chance in regards to getting his certification to work for the Greenwood Police Department.
The board asked Sanford several questions before going into executive session to discuss the accusations against him.
Following its closed-door session, the board announced it had unanimously voted 9-0 to cancel Sanford’s certificate, citing that Sanford’s alleged actions violated the state’s Law Enforcement Code of Ethics.
It’s unclear if the Greenwood Police Department was aware of Sanford’s alleged misconduct when he was hired. Former Greenwood Police Chief Terrence Craft, who led the department during Sanford’s employment in Greenwood but was removed this summer by Mayor Kenderick Cox, could not be reached for comment.
Edgar Gibson, a Greenwood police captain, was at Sanford’s certification review hearing to speak on Sanford’s behalf, as was Sanford’s mother, according to the BLEOST’s meeting minutes.
A day after his certification was cancelled, on May 13, 2022, the city of Greenwood terminated Sanford’s employment with the police department.
Since then, Sanford has not been employed as a law enforcement officer, according to the National Police Index, an online database that tracks the employment history of officers throughout the nation.
Sanford, along with Marvin Flowers, most recently a former chief deputy for the Sunflower County Sheriff’s Department and a former Itta Bena police chief, are now charged with three felonies in connection with drug trafficking, federal authorities allege.
A grand jury charged Sanford and Flowers with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, distributing a controlled substance and carrying a firearm while distributing a controlled substance, according to an indictment filed Oct. 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.
On only one of those charges, however — conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance — was from Sanford’s tenure as a Greenwood police officer.
According to the federal indictment, between March 1, 2022, and April 21, 2023, Sanford and Flowers agreed to conspire to help distribute 25 kilograms of cocaine through the Delta.
As detailed in the indictment, a FBI undercover agent, posing as a member of a Mexican drug cartel, employed Sanford and Flowers to provide escort services for the cocaine, also referred to as “birds,” when it would travel through Leflore, Sunflower and Washington counties on June 22, 2022.
For their protective service, Sanford and Flowers would each be paid $5,000.
Additionally, Sanford and Flowers were paid multiple bribes as a means for undercover federal authorities “to build trust with the corrupt law enforcement officers and to lay the groundwork for the escort of illegal narcotics on June 22, 2022, and on other potential dates in the future.”
Ultimately, over the course of the conspiracy, Sanford received $12,800 in bribes while Flowers received $16,400.
The second count, distribution of a controlled substance, refers to the June 22, 2022, date when Sanford and Flowers allegedly provided escort services for the transportation of the cocaine. Both men were paid $5,000.
Their third count relates to the fact that Sanford and Flowers were carrying firearms while allegedly providing their escort services.
A third person, also a former Greenwood police officer, is listed in the same federal indictment as Sanford and Flowers. However, during a press conference held Oct. 30 following the raid, federal authorities cleared this person of any criminal wrongdoing and is no longer considered a suspect.
All 20 of those arrested in October in relation to the drug-trafficking scheme have pleaded not guilty, according to reporting by the Associated Press. Furthermore, the 14 law enforcement officers charged were each offered a $10,000 bond dependent on them not continuing to work as, or seek employment as, law enforcement officers.
The AP also reported that the BLEOST has suspended these officers’ law enforcement certificates until full hearings are held before the board.
Sanford, who is listed as a resident of Greenville, according to the indictment, is scheduled to have a trial by jury on Feb. 9 at the federal courthouse in Greenville.
Sanford’s lawyer, Goodloe Tankersley Lewis with the Oxford-based Hickman, Goza & Spragins law firm, declined to comment.
Gerard Edic is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Contact him at 662-581-7237 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com. You can support his work with a tax-deductible donation at bit.ly/3G7iXiy.
