Former Fulton County Deputy Sheriff Sentenced to Over Three Years in Prison for Public Corruption and Drug Trafficking

Dingle Accepted Bribes to Smuggle Contraband into Fulton County Jail

ATLANTA—A former Fulton County Deputy Sheriff who accepted bribes of more than $2,000 to distribute cocaine inside and outside the Fulton County Jail was sentenced today by United States District Amy Totenberg to serve 41 months in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates of the Northern District of Georgia. Marvie Trevino Dingle, Jr., 36, of Lithonia, Georgia, had previously pleaded guilty on November 8, 2011, to attempted possession with intent to distribute cocaine and to accepting bribes to facilitate cocaine distribution.

“This former deputy sheriff is headed to prison because he chose to profit from the illegal drug trade instead of protecting and serving the people of Fulton County,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “He used his uniform and badge to make money by delivering drugs to inmates at the jail and to protect a significant cocaine transaction on the streets. This breach of public trust is damaging to our community and to our many honest, hardworking law enforcement officers.”

“It’s unfortunate to law enforcement when the badge is being sold out for personal gain,” said Fulton County Sheriff Theodore Jackson. “The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office continues to cooperate with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Attorney’s Office to rid corruption from the ranks of the Sheriff’s Office. This does not reflect upon the majority of employees who are dedicated, hardworking, loyal, and honest.”

Dingle’s 41-month prison sentence will be followed by supervised release for two years.

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court: On March 21, 2011, Dingle, while employed as a deputy sheriff at the Fulton County Jail, accepted $700 from an undercover agent to deliver seven grams of a substance he believed to be cocaine to an inmate inside the jail. On April 22, 2011, Dingle accepted $1,500 from an undercover agent to assist in delivering a kilogram of a substance he believed to be cocaine to a man in the Dunwoody area.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant United States Attorney Brent Alan Gray prosecuted the case.