Charges for Sheriff’s Deputy Accused of Planting Evidence Likely Months Away
September 27th, 2018 by Mike Vasilinda
It could be a month or more before charges are filed in the case of a North Florida Deputy accused of planting drugs on unsuspecting motorists.
In body-cam video released by the Jackson County Sheriff, Deputy Zachery Wester first tells Theresa Odom there was a problem with her brake lights.
Then he said a drug sniffing dog was on the way.
“Instead of doing that would you consent to a search of your vehicle,” Wester asked Odom in the video.
At about five minuets into the stop, Wester is already searching her car, holding what appears to be a baggie with a white substance in his left hand.
“The one that I saw was clear and the one I saw had some still photos which confirmed what the video showed us,” said Glenn Hess, State Attorney of Florida’s 14th Judicial Circuit.
Presented with the find, Odom proclaims her innocence, as others did as well.
Over 250 cases involving the deputy were reviewed.
This week 49 cases were thrown out, bringing the total to 119.
The Deputy was fired but he has yet to be charged.
Hess says it could be a month or longer before anything happens.
“Until the investigation is completed, we don’t know what charges to file, and we don’t know how many charges to file,” said Hess.
Theresa Odom is free.
She declined to be interviewed for fear of jeopardizing the investigation, but she did allow this picture to be taken and in a lengthy conversation both on and off the record, she told us her tail lights never malfunctioned,
The Department of Law Enforcement, which is investigating this case says last year out of 85,606 law enforcement officers statewide, just 1,154 disciplinary cases were opened.
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