Cox pleads guilty to drug, fraud conspiracies

U.S. Attorney Michael Easley, with the Eastern District of North Carolina, U.S. Department of Justice, announced Cox’ plea Wednesday afternoon that could result in Cox being sentenced up to 20 years for each charge.

Cox, 49, who was employed by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office from 1996 until he retired as the head of the drug unit in 2018, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, oxycodone and marijuana, according to Easley’s office.

Cox also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit procurement wire and mail fraud with his co-defendant Christopher Worth, also a Wayne County Sheriff’s Office deputy, in connection with contracts his business received from WCSO.

“As a leader of the Drug Unit, Cox’s job was to put drug traffickers behind bars, not go into business with them,” Easley said. “We trust law enforcement to uphold the law, but a rare few choose to abuse their positions with criminal side-hustles. Corruption like this undermines our institutions, cheats taxpayers and endangers the public.

“The people of Eastern North Carolina, and all the honest cops who put their lives on the line, deserve better and we won’t stand for it.”

FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert M. DeWitt said the FBI remains committed to rooting out “public corruption on behalf of the vast majority of hard-working officers who carry out their duties honestly and honorably.”

“Law enforcement officers are entrusted with an incredible responsibility to serve our communities and ensure justice,” DeWitt said. “Anyone who takes advantage of their position for personal gain or in persistence of criminal activity must and will be held accountable”

According to court documents and other information presented in court, while Cox was a sheriff’s deputy, he helped various drug traffickers operating in Wayne County evade charges.

In one instance, he intercepted a drug trafficker who had made a purchase from the target of a Drug Enforcement Administration investigation. Rather than arrest the trafficker, he seized the drugs and reimbursed him $2,000 for the sale, claiming it had been a planned, controlled purchase.

Even after his retirement, Cox continued his relationships with the drug traffickers, facilitating the purchase of drugs for other individuals. In addition, Cox was engaged in a scheme in which contracts for upfits of WCSO vehicles were steered to a business owned by Cox, and employing co-defendant Worth, regardless of whether Cox’s company provided such work at the lowest price as required by the Wayne County procurement requirements.

Cox was indicted in August of 2023.

Easley made the announcement after U.S. Chief District Judge Richard E. Myers II accepted Cox’s plea.

The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives are investigating the case and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dennis Duffy and Nick Hartigan are prosecuting the case.