WILMINGTON – Michael Kenneth Cox, 49, a former deputy with the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, was sentenced to 74 months followed by three years of supervised release, for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy and a procurement mail and wire fraud conspiracy.

The sentencing was announced on Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice.

On Mar. 24, Cox, who was employed by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) from 1996 until he retired as the head of the drug unit in 2018, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, oxycodone, and marijuana.

Cox also pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud with his co-defendant Christopher Worth in connection with contracts his business received from WCSO.

On July 24, Worth also pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.

Worth is scheduled to be sentenced next month. Worth joined the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) in 1993 and most recently served as the Major of Enforcement where he was responsible for overseeing support services and the WCSO drug unit.

Worth retired from this position in 2023.

The criminal activity of Cox and Worth were uncovered as part of a larger operation investigating the trafficking of methamphetamine and other drugs in Onslow, Craven and Wayne Counties that began in 2020.

To date, 41 defendants, including Cox and Worth, have been convicted.

Most recently, a federal jury convicted Tamarcus Ellis on three charges of trafficking methamphetamine.

The operation has also netted the seizure of 36 firearms, 16 kilograms of methamphetamine, four kilograms of heroin, ¾ of a kilogram cocaine and 450 grams fentanyl – enough for more than 225,000 potentially lethal doses.

“What started as an investigation of drug trafficking in Eastern North Carolina, led us to public corruption in law enforcement. Michael Cox and his co-defendant both took the sacred oath to uphold the law and protect the public,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley. “The majority of our law enforcement officers abide their promise, but these two chose a different path. Instead, they entered into a conspiracy to profit from upfitting law enforcement vehicles and Cox joined a drug trafficking conspiracy with the criminals he was supposed to investigate.”

According to court documents and other information presented in Court, while Cox was a sheriff’s deputy, he helped two drug traffickers operating in Wayne County evade charges.

Cox accomplished this by, among other things, providing protection under the ruse that they were confidential informants.

This allowed Cox to provide them with sensitive law enforcement information and shield them from investigations. As a result of these efforts, the Goldsboro Police Department began to view one of the drug traffickers as “untouchable” due to his relationship with Cox.

In exchange, Cox used the drug traffickers to supply him with Percocet and Oxycodone that he provided to other people.

For example, in 2017, Cox observed one of his protected drug traffickers making a purchase from the target of a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigation.

Rather than arrest the trafficker, he seized the drugs and reimbursed him $2,000 for the sale and gave him another $200 as a “Confidential Informant fee,” claiming it had been a planned, controlled purchase.

Cox’s support of the drug traffickers went beyond his purchase of Percocet and Oxycodone. He arranged a cocaine transaction between the two protected drug traffickers when one of them was low on supply.

One trafficker indicated that Cox approached him about conducting a home invasion of a location that was thought to contain a large amount of drug proceeds.  Just ten days later, a violent home invasion occurred there.

“Tonight, Michael Kenneth Cox will have a different view of prison bars,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge, Robert M. DeWitt. “He will be looking out from the inside of a federal cell for the next six years. Law enforcement officers are entrusted with an incredible responsibility to serve our communities and ensure justice. Anyone who tarnishes their badge for their own profit will be held accountable. The FBI will root out public corruption and defend the vast majority of hard-working officers who carry out their duties honestly and honorably.”

Even after his retirement from the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, Cox continued his efforts to protect the drug traffickers.

In 2019, a confidential informant working for the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office was shot, called 911, and informed the 911 operator that he had been shot by one of Cox’s protected drug traffickers.

Cox found out about the shooting and contacted investigators that same night to provide an alibi for his protected drug trafficker.

Cox then assisted the drug trafficker with obtaining a defense attorney. During a subsequent federal investigation of the shooting, Cox lied about his contacts with the protected drug trafficker following the shooting.

In 2021, one of the protected drug traffickers was the target of a federal wiretap investigation.

After finding a GPS device on his car, he called Cox and referenced his recent trips to Cox’s home for Oxycodone deliveries.

Cox immediately contacted former colleagues within the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office to ask about the tracking device and then informed the protected drug dealer that it belonged to the ATF.

After learning about the federal investigation, the protected drug dealer and his conspirators took steps to thwart the investigation.

This investigation was an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launders, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by Chief United States District Judge Richard E. Myers II. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) are investigating the case and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dennis Duffy and Nick Hartigan are prosecuting the case.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:23-CR-260.