JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi deputy sheriff was arrested Thursday by the FBI, one of several arrests it made across multiple law enforcement agencies in the state, a local sheriff said.
Sunflower County Sheriff James Haywood confirmed the arrest of his deputy, Marvin Flowers. He also said the FBI arrested the sheriffs of two other counties, in addition to other law enforcement officers, on allegations of public corruption. Haywood did not provide further details about the allegations.
“The public’s trust is going to be destroyed,” Haywood said. “This is a big blow for law enforcement.”
Haywood said Flowers worked for the department for 13 years. Sunflower County is in the northwest part of the state.
It wasn’t immediately known if Haywood had a lawyer .
The FBI office in Jackson, the state capital, said it planned a major announcement later Thursday together with the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Mississippi. It did not elaborate on the nature of the planned announcement.
Multiple Mississippi law enforcement agencies have faced federal scrutiny in recent years.
In 2023, six law enforcement officers pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges for torturing two Black men. “The Goon Squad,” as they called themselves, sparked an ongoing Department of Justice investigation into the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office.
A similar DOJ probe concluded last year that officers of the Lexington Police Department discriminated against Black people and repeatedly violated citizens’ civil rights.
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