Sheriff, Officers Charged with Selling Confiscated Drugs

By Brian Cole

Published on November 07, 2006

The arrests took place in Henry County. Others indicted include a former postal worker, a former probation officer, and five others. Charges include racketeering conspiracy, narcotics distribution, obstruction of justice, perjury, and weapons charges.

H. Franklin Cassell, 68, is the sheriff of Henry County, about 50 miles south of Roanoke. He owns large tracts of land and a trucking company but allegedly still found it necessary to spend the last eight years helping to sell back to the public cocaine, steroids, marijuana, and other drugs that had been confiscated as part of criminal investigations. The sheriff’s actions were discovered when a sergeant who was paid in exchange for allowing his home to be used as a center for drug distribution agreed to cooperate with authorities.

U.S. Attorney John Brownlee said the corruption is disgraceful.

The sheriff’s employees have been barred from working in law enforcement until the case goes to trial. Cassell’s defense attorney, John Lichtenstein, objected to the government’s request to similarly bar his client from practicing his profession, saying it would disgrace a presumption of innocence.

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