By Allan Lengel
Two law enforcement officers who were members of a DEA task force in Northeast Florida have been arrested on drug related charges, the Florida Times-Union reports.
Last Friday authorities arrested Sgt. James Darrell Hickox, 37, of Callahan, who worked for the Nassau County Sheriff’s Department, and Joshua Earrey, 44, of the Florida Highway Patrol.
Hickox of Callahan, Fla., is charged with possession of narcotics with intent to distribute, including cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy), and 40 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl, according to a Justice Department press release. Hickox, who worked for the task force from March 2014 until last September, was fired last Friday, the day he was arrested by the FBI.
Citing an FBI affidavit, News 4 Jax reports that a search of HIckox’s home turned up about $176,000 in cash. The affidavit also revealed $260,000 in credit card charges since 2020, and expenditures for construction, an ATV, medical bills and plastic surgery.
Earrey, of Jacksonville, a veteran trooper with the Florida Highway Patrol, is charged with “unlawful user or addict of controlled substances in possession of a firearm.” He became addicted to painkillers after a surgery in 2018 and ended up buying them from a confidential informant, authorities allege.
He joined the task force in 2020.
