Post by WaTcHeR on Jun 16, 2006 13:15:05 GMT -5
06.16.2006 - A former Polk County deputy waved goodbye to relatives after he was sentenced to 24 years in prison Thursday for his role in a cocaine distribution ring with ties to Gainesville.
"I love you all," Roderick Myron Stevenson, 39, of Winter Haven, called out as he was led from the courtroom at Gainesville's federal courthouse.
Stevenson, arrested at his home in February 2004, plead no contest last year to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of a substance containing crack cocaine. Investigators had alleged the ex-deputy patrolled an area where the cocaine distribution ring had operated, provided them with information that assisted the group and took more than $45,000 in bribes.
About 20 people were charged in the drug-dealing ring that operated from Gainesville to Miami and distributed an estimated 400 kilograms of cocaine from a cluster of mobile homes in Winter Haven known as "The Hole."
Stevenson, who resigned from his job in Polk County in March 2004, faced a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in federal prison. He had sought a lighter sentence with home confinement instead of imprisonment.
"The defendant was a law enforcement officer and he violated a sacred trust," Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Williams told the judge before the sentence was announced.
Stevenson's attorney, D. Scott Boardman of Tampa, declined to comment after the hearing.
Marco Henry, Stevenson's cousin, criticized Boardman's work on the case and said an appeal will be filed.
Questions about Stevenson's health had delayed his sentencing earlier this year.
Stevenson, wearing a neck brace, a bandage over one eye and another on his head, told the judge his medicine was not being properly administered, that he had been injured by other prisoners because he was a former officer and bitten by rats while in custody.
Senior U.S. District Judge Maurice Paul ordered the U.S. Marshal's Office to ensure Stevenson would properly receive his medicine.
Stevenson also had words for investigators and the prosecution as he left the courtroom. "You've got to answer to God, too," he said as he was led away.
"I love you all," Roderick Myron Stevenson, 39, of Winter Haven, called out as he was led from the courtroom at Gainesville's federal courthouse.
Stevenson, arrested at his home in February 2004, plead no contest last year to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of a substance containing crack cocaine. Investigators had alleged the ex-deputy patrolled an area where the cocaine distribution ring had operated, provided them with information that assisted the group and took more than $45,000 in bribes.
About 20 people were charged in the drug-dealing ring that operated from Gainesville to Miami and distributed an estimated 400 kilograms of cocaine from a cluster of mobile homes in Winter Haven known as "The Hole."
Stevenson, who resigned from his job in Polk County in March 2004, faced a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in federal prison. He had sought a lighter sentence with home confinement instead of imprisonment.
"The defendant was a law enforcement officer and he violated a sacred trust," Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Williams told the judge before the sentence was announced.
Stevenson's attorney, D. Scott Boardman of Tampa, declined to comment after the hearing.
Marco Henry, Stevenson's cousin, criticized Boardman's work on the case and said an appeal will be filed.
Questions about Stevenson's health had delayed his sentencing earlier this year.
Stevenson, wearing a neck brace, a bandage over one eye and another on his head, told the judge his medicine was not being properly administered, that he had been injured by other prisoners because he was a former officer and bitten by rats while in custody.
Senior U.S. District Judge Maurice Paul ordered the U.S. Marshal's Office to ensure Stevenson would properly receive his medicine.
Stevenson also had words for investigators and the prosecution as he left the courtroom. "You've got to answer to God, too," he said as he was led away.