Former Tallahatchie County Sheriff William L. Brewer Jr. will remain jailed pending the outcome of his criminal case on federal drug trafficking and related charges.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Roy Percy on Wednesday issued an order revoking Brewer’s pretrial release after the ex-sheriff earlier that day, in a court filing by his defense attorneys, waived his right to a bond revocation hearing that had been scheduled for Friday morning in Oxford.
“William Brewer ... hereby waives his hearing to answer to a bond violation petition...” and “...further agrees to remain detained pending the disposition of the charges against him,” noted the one-page document which was signed by Brewer and attorneys Bradley D. Daigneault and Kevin Horan, both of the same Grenada law firm.
Percy ordered that Brewer be “remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal for confinement in a corrections facility separate, to the extent practicable, from persons awaiting or serving sentences or being held in custody pending appeal.”
The U.S. Office of Probation and Pretrial Services had petitioned the court to take action after Brewer allegedly violated the conditions of his pretrial release.
The 58-year-old Brewer was then picked up by the U.S. Marshals Service and booked into the Lafayette County Detention Center in Oxford at 8:21 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5.
Court filings have not disclosed the nature of Brewer’s alleged bond violation, and a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oxford said Oct. 11 she was unable to provide additional information.
Brett Carr, public affairs officer for the FBI in Jackson, told The Sun-Sentinel, “The details of Mr. Brewer’s violation of pretrial release are sealed.”
When reached by telephone Thursday afternoon, defense attorney Daigneault declined to comment on the bond revocation matter, saying, “Unfortunately, at this time, we have no statement that we can make.”
Brewer, who was charged by criminal complaint with federal narcotics trafficking, extortion and bribery offenses, was initially taken into custody by the FBI in Oxford on Aug. 10.
He was released Aug. 14 on a $25,000 secured bond just hours after resigning from the sheriff’s post that he had held for nearly 21 years.
Brewer was placed on supervised probation in a location restriction program commonly called “home confinement” or “house arrest” and was not to leave his residence except for employment, church, medical or psychiatric treatment, meeting with an attorney, court appearances or for other reasons preapproved by his probation officer. His travel was restricted to north Mississippi and he was ordered to wear a GPS tracking device. He was not to possess a firearm or use alcohol excessively, among other restrictions.
Brewer was formally indicted Aug. 22 by a federal grand jury on one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and four counts of interference with commerce by threats or violence, all felony offenses punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment on each count.
Conspiracy to distribute also carries penalties of up to a $1 million fine, not less than three years of supervised release, being ineligible for federal benefits for up to five years after conviction and a $100 special assessment.
Each of the interference with commerce charges also carries up to a $250,000 fine, up to three years of supervised probation and a $100 special assessment.
The indictment, which was initially sealed because of ongoing plea negotiations between the parties, was unsealed by Percy on Sept. 20 after U.S. Attorney William C. Lamar and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Mims announced that an agreement had been struck.
In court documents, they said the signed agreement would have Brewer plead guilty to a June 21, 2018, crime in which he obtained from an FBI confidential human source, acting undercover, approximately $6,500 “to allow drug distribution in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, which attempted extortion would have affected interstate commerce and the movement of articles in interstate commerce, that is, methamphetamine, had the methamphetamine actually existed.”
On Sept. 26, Brewer’s case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills for a formal change of plea hearing scheduled for Nov. 1, at 3 p.m., at the U.S. Federal Building in Oxford, at which time Brewer is expected to enter a plea of guilty to count three of his indictment. Terms of the plea bargain agreement have not been made public. The judge would have to sign off on any deal before it could be executed.
The longtime sheriff is charged with conspiring to profit from the theft and distribution of controlled substances including methamphetamine, cocaine base (crack cocaine) and powder cocaine “in and about Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, in an effort to obtain as much money as possible.”
Count one of the indictment states that while the alleged violations began at a time “not precisely known” to the grand jury, they date from about June 2003 through June 12, 2018 — spanning some 15 years, all during his tenure as sheriff.
On multiple occasions between those dates, according to the indictment, “a co-conspirator known to the grand jury would ‘rip off’ other drug dealers, wherein the co-conspirator would steal money and illegal drugs. ... Defendant Brewer knew of and approved of the co-conspirator’s activities in ‘ripping off’ other drug dealers and encouraged the co-conspirator to continue with the illegal activity. When the co-conspirator would ‘rip off’ other drug dealers, stealing money and drugs, the co-conspirator would keep the drugs to sell and would deliver the money from the ‘rip’ to ... Brewer. With the full knowledge and approval of ... Brewer, the co-conspirator would then sell the drugs obtained from the ‘rip’ and continue to pay ... Brewer a portion of the proceeds from the sale...”
“On other occasions,” the indictment noted, “the co-conspirator would purchase illegal drugs, including methamphetamine, which he would sell in and about Tallahatchie County. Periodically, the co-conspirator would pay a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the drugs to defendant Brewer, who in effect provided protection for the illegal drug-trafficking enterprise.
“The co-conspirator would give a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the illegal drugs and from the ‘rips’ of other drug dealers to defendant Brewer to ensure that Tallahatchie County law enforcement authorities would not interfere with the co-conspirator’s drug trafficking operation, thereby aiding and abetting the distribution of controlled substances by directly facilitating said drug-trafficking operation and sharing in the illicit proceeds,” the indictment added of the count one charge.
Brewer had served as sheriff since being appointed to the post on Oct. 6, 1997, following the resignation of Sheriff James H. Pugh.
As Pugh’s chief deputy, Brewer was the county Board of Supervisors’ unanimous choice to succeed him.
Brewer won a November 1998 special election for sheriff and has been re-elected to the position ever since, most recently in 2015. He was in the third year of his fifth elected four-year term, which expires at the end of 2019.
