Former Fairfax County Deputy Robert Sanford pleads guilty in federal case

Court documents show Sanford would use inside information he received as a deputy, such as planned searches and inmate files, to protect the drug operation. It wasn't until the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office searched Sanford's co-conspirator that authorities became aware of the enterprise.

“Sanford did not escape his crimes,” Kathryn Ann Duffy Pavluchuk, general counsel for the sheriff’s office, said in an email Thursday. “He was able to commit them because, like all law enforcement officers, he was placed in a position of great trust. Sanford alone made the decision to break that trust.

An attorney for Sanford declined to comment on the case.

In a news release, officials said Sanford was hired in May 2021 as a deputy with the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office, which oversees the detention center. But about a year and a half later, authorities said Sanford began smuggling drugs to an inmate, identified in court records as Javonte Smallwood, who would smuggle contraband throughout the prison.

Smallwood had been incarcerated in the Fairfax County Jail since 2020 on unrelated theft and fraud charges. An attorney for Smallwood declined to comment on the additional charges he faces in the case.

Officials said the system worked like this: Sanford would obtain the drugs from Smallwood's trafficking rings outside the prison after receiving payments through CashApp. To prevent other deputies from finding out, Sanford gave Smallwood a pair of gloves to hide the drugs and a cell phone to communicate with the deputy, authorities said. Prosecutors said Sanford would also regularly give his contact advance notice about cell and strip searches at the facility.

Over a six-month period, according to court records, Sanford received approximately $1,630 in payments.

Authorities also detailed evidence showing Sanford and Smallwood worked to silence inmates who might reveal their operation. At one point, Sanford texted Smallwood to say he was “picking on” an inmate who “looked like he wanted to cry.” In another instance, Smallwood told Sanford he had to “beat up another inmate” as part of a drug scheme.

Outside the jail, authorities said, the deputy would sell drugs to women working as prostitutes in an apartment Sanford rented. Sanford told Smallwood several times that he would procure drugs for women, sending a message at one point: “I can make a million easily.”

“Public corruption is among our highest priorities,” U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber wrote Wednesday. “A corrupt corrections officer – who supplied drugs to inmates and gave them insider security information – is dangerous and undermines the rule of law. »

In May 2023, sheriff's deputies searched Sanford's co-conspirator and found a cell phone, 92 counterfeit oxycodone pills, 174 Suboxone strips and more than three grams of cocaine in his long underwear. The next day, Sanford deleted his CashApp account, which he used to receive bribes from the prison. He also stopped all contact with the detainee and deleted associated texts.

By the end of the month, authorities said, the deputy had begun planning his resignation from the department, which he said was the result of child care issues. From there, the sheriff's office launched an investigation into Sanford with assistance from the FBI's Washington field office, authorities said. He was arrested in April and imprisoned in Alexandria Prison, where he will remain until his sentencing.

Pavluchuk, the sheriff's office lawyer, did not say whether the incident resulted in any change to agency policy or procedures.

“I continue to have the utmost confidence in the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office, despite this bad actor,” she said.

Sanford faces up to 20 years in prison on each count. His sentencing is scheduled for September 18.