Former Tallahatchie County sheriff William L. Brewer Jr., who is charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and interference with commerce by threats or violence, was back in jail Friday night due to allegedly violating terms of his bond — this after recently agreeing to plead guilty to one of the charges against him.
"I can confirm that Mr. Brewer was taken back into custody for violating the conditions of his pretrial release," Brett Carr, public affairs officer for the FBI's Jackson Division, said Monday afternoon. "I cannot confirm any details of the violations."
Carr said Brewer "is scheduled to see a magistrate judge at some point this week" for a hearing on the alleged bond violation.
A spokesperson for the Lafayette County Jail told The Sun-Sentinel that the 58-year-old Brewer, of near Oakland, was booked into the Oxford facility at 8:21 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5. She said the U.S. Marshals Service brought Brewer to the jail, and she referred any other questions on the matter to the Marshals Service. That agency's Oxford office did not immediately return phone calls from The Sun-Sentinel on Monday, which was a federal holiday.
Brewer, who was initially charged by criminal complaint and taken into federal custody by the FBI on Aug. 10, had been released on a $25,000 secured bond on Aug. 14. That was the same day that he resigned as sheriff after serving nearly 21 years as Tallahatchie County's chief law enforcement officer.
Among the conditions of his release, Brewer was placed on supervised probation in a location restriction program commonly referred to as "home detention," "home confinement" or "house arrest," and was not to leave his residence except for employment, church, medical 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 an electronic monitor with GPS tracking. Brewer also was ordered not to possess a firearm or use alcohol excessively, among other restrictions.
Brewer was formally indicted by a federal grand jury on Aug. 22. Because the parties were in the process of negotiating a plea agreement, federal prosecutors petitioned U.S. Magistrate Judge Roy Percy to seal the indictment to allow time for the plea negotiations to continue before the indictment was made public.
The indictment was unsealed by Percy in a Sept. 20 order after U.S. Attorney William C. Lamar and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Mims said a plea agreement was reached "wherein the defendant would plead guilty to count three of the indictment."
According to the five-count indictment, Brewer was charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and with 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, upon conviction, up to a $250,000 fine, up to three years of supervised probation and a $100 special assessment.
Federal prosecutors say Brewer has signed an agreement that would have him 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 reported plea agreement are not contained in any court filings to date.
On Oct. 4, Brewer waived his right to appear at an Oct. 5 arraignment on his recent indictment and instead entered a plea of not guilty to all counts in the indictment.
The longtime sheriff was charged with conspiracy to profit from the theft and distribution of controlled substances that included methamphetamine, cocaine base (crack cocaine) and powder cocaine "in and about Tallahatchie County, Mississsippi, 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 dated from about June 2003 through June 12, 2018.
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 defendant Brewer. With the full knowledge and approval of defendant Brewer, the co-conspirator would then sell the drugs obtained from the 'rip' and continue to pay defendant Brewer a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the drugs."
"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.
