Sunflower County Chief Deputy Marvin Flowers was arrested Thursday morning following an apparent FBI sting that could impact law enforcement agencies throughout the Delta.
Sheriff James Haywood confirmed the arrest to The Enterprise-Tocsin and said that the multiple other arrests may have been made in other counties. He described it as an "integrity and public corruption" sting.
“It’s a bad day for the Delta, but we have a standard that we have to go by,” Haywood said.
Haywood confirmed that he had been contacted by the FBI ahead of the arrest.
Flowers has been with the Sunflower County Sheriff’s Department for 13 years, Haywood said, noting that Flowers is innocent until proven guilty.
“Very disappointing,” Haywood said. “We know what we get paid when we take the job, and we have to take an oath to do the right thing. When we don’t do it, these are the consequences.
Haywood said that he did not know if this would be the last arrest connected to his department.
“I would like to think so,” he said.
He said that Flowers was not booked in the Sunflower County Jail following his arrest. He said he did not know his whereabouts as of Thursday morning.
Haywood said that he plans to give a report to the board of supervisors this coming Monday, and he said that he will determine over the weekend whether Flowers will be terminated or put on administrative leave.
