A betrayal of public trust has landed former Florida Highway Patrol Trooper and DEA Task Force Officer Joshua Grady Earrey, 46, Jacksonville, behind bars for nine years.
United States District Judge Wendy W. Berger delivered the sentence Wednesday after Earrey pleaded guilty on April 4, 2024, to a flurry of federal offenses: conspiring to distribute narcotics, conspiring to defraud the United States, and possessing firearms and ammunition while addicted to illegal narcotics.
The court documents paint a picture of extensive corruption during Earrey’s tenure as a law enforcement officer from 2021 to 2023.
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Working alongside a co-conspirator, Earrey engaged in a brazen scheme that involved pilfering evidence seized during criminal investigations.
Their illicit activities included the theft of over 1,000 pounds of marijuana, which they then supplied to others for distribution, meticulously falsifying paperwork to conceal their crime by claiming the drugs had been destroyed.
The corruption didn’t stop there. Earrey and his accomplice also stole a kilogram of cocaine from evidence, handing it over to a drug dealer to sell on their behalf. In an even more disturbing revelation, Earrey provided ammunition to an individual he knew to be a convicted murderer in exchange for opiates, a callous disregard for public safety, and the law he swore to uphold.
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As part of his sentencing, Earrey has agreed to forfeit the money, firearms, and ammunition connected to his criminal enterprise.
“Law enforcement officers who operate as though they are above the law betray the badge and the citizens they swore to protect,” stated FBI Jacksonville Acting Special Agent in Charge Hubert Reynolds. “This case exemplifies the FBI’s commitment to holding public servants accountable if they violate the very laws they promised to uphold.”
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