Illinois County: Indicted Sheriff Won't Lose Job

Illinois County: Indicted Sheriff Won't Lose Job

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 3, 2009

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A southern Illinois sheriff charged with trafficking marijuana, including while on duty, will not lose his job unless he's convicted or resigns, county officials said Wednesday.

Federal agents arrested Gallatin County Sheriff Raymond Martin, 46, last month at his office on three counts of marijuana distribution and two counts of carrying a firearm -- his service weapon -- while trafficking drugs. A grand jury in Benton, Ill., indicted Martin on the charges Tuesday.

County Board Chairman Randy Drone said that, as an elected official, Martin was legally entitled to keep his job and collect his $40,440-a-year salary ''until he resigns or is convicted.'' Martin, whose seat is up for election next year, also got his $6,500 annual stipend from the state last month.

''Obviously, it's an embarrassment to the county,'' Drone said of Martin's legal troubles. But ''we're just going on and dealing with it.''

A message left Wednesday with Martin's public defender was not immediately returned.

Shortly after Martin's arrest, one of his three deputies, Shannon Bradley, was named interim sheriff.

Martin had been the law for nearly 20 years in the county by the time investigators hauled him last month from his small office in Shawneetown, a burg with little more than a courthouse, a couple of convenience stores and a barbecue restaurant.

The Democrat won re-election four times since he took office in 1990.

But federal prosecutors claim he supplied a drug dealer and then threatened to kill him when the man said he wanted out, and allegedly pledged to use his authority to shut down rival drug traffickers.

An affidavit by a Drug Enforcement Administration investigator alleges Martin and the dealer hatched the marijuana-dealing scheme last November.

When the unidentified dealer grew unsettled and wanted out, Martin at least twice pulled his service revolver and insisted that making him ''disappear'' would be ''that easy,'' according to the affidavit.

After the dealer went to investigators, authorities recorded Martin's conversations with the dealer and tracked the sheriff's county-issued Ford Expedition. Investigators later found more than $100,000 in a safe in Martin's home, as well as cash and drugs missing from evidence bags in Martin's office.

ahahahaaha un fucking believable..

if it was a black guy in the ghetto he'd have holes in him and be in jail, WTF????


Oh man. Society you SUCK. :D

And to think - i'm usually polite and peaceful :(


Peace,
Denial

he hasn't been convicted yet, that's why he's not in jail :wtf: ... he's a scumbag hyprocrite, yes, but still 'innocent until proven guilty', right ? ... does your boss stop your paychecks, because you're waiting to go to court, on a charge ? ... works both ways, ya know ... I hope the judge throws the book at him, but, since he's a cop, he'll go to 'cop jail', where the bad guys can't get at him ... being a County Sheriff, you can be sure he has LOTS of stuff to use against the local bigwigs, too ... you can be sure there's plenty of 'bargaining' going on right now ... :smokin:

Shit I'd vote for him for govenor.lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by killerweed420

Shit I'd vote for him for govenor.lol

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in Illinois, that sort of reputation would be an asset to a candidate-for-Governor, maybe even propel him into the White House ! (wait a minute, it already did, didn't it ! :D)

Yes sir. he seems to be right in line with mainstream Illinois politics.lol

Hahaha, I live in Southern Illinois :)

hah you arent kidding are ya? :-)

Peace,
Denial

Not lying at all. In fact, I live pretty close to Benton.