We have seen comments several times throughout this case downplaying its severity, excusing it away these 15 people, mainly cops or correctional officers, were only shipping fake drugs to many points along the Eastern Seaboard.
It doesn’t matter whether the drugs were real or fake. What matters is they were willing to spit on their badges and spit in the faces of the public they once swore to protect, letting them know they were on the take.
We’ve scoured through more than 700 documents filed electronically in the Eastern District of North Carolina Court System and we have come away with a bad taste.
Operation Rockfish was all about intent to do something dirty, to take their guns and badges, make a little side hustle, accept bribes and Rolex watches to protect what they thought were drugs.
What’s chilling about this case is they were ready to use those guns if a shipment went bad. That’s what is wrong about this case, the extraordinary measures they took to do something illegal, racking bullets in the chamber, going to narcotics conventions to deceive, having meetings to learn how to avoid detection.
Throughout our review of the hundreds of court documents we learned some disheartening allegations, which now in the face of the pleas and the guilty verdict have become fact.
One of the cops way before this probe started admitted he was already abusing the power of his uniform by robbing drug dealers. He became the original target in the case and didn’t mind recruiting others for a nefarious cause.
Another admitted past ties to a real drug trafficking organization so what does that say? It says the intent was already there.
Sad in this case is the way these officers believed they were onto something big, one thinking through their ties to Russian mobsters they could expand this operation to a global drug trafficking kingdom and another arrogantly wanting to have this so-called heroin and cocaine broken off to her to start her own little organization.
Does this sound like something that should be downplayed? Nope. After the intent was established they would willingly tarnish their reputations and badges, they would have gone along with whatever, they were essentially shipping real quantities of real drugs; they were willing to feed the area’s and country’s heroin addiction.
It’s all about intent.
Antonio Tillmon, the man a federal jury decided was guilty, could receive a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. While we don’t believe he should receive the maximum, we do believe he should be severely punished because he let down those he swore he would protect, he let down fellow officers whose necks he should have protected. Instead, joining in this operation showed he was willing to cause his fellow officers harm should they interfere. This is what Operation Rockfish was all about.
What we’re gathering from our review of court documents is the government is looking at sentencing the first person to take a plea in the case, Wardie Vincent Jr., to a prison term of 108 to 135 months. His attorney is seeking 10 to 16 months, a ridiculously low term.
Nine to 11 ½ years isn’t a bad number for a group of people who took an oath to protect citizens on the streets and in the sanctity of their homes, an oath they failed to uphold because of greed, some extra cash and Rolex watches.
While 9 to nearly 12 years isn’t a bad number, no amount of time they serve will make up for their flagrant dereliction of duty in this case. It’s up to the judge’s discretion and we would opt for a higher sentencing range because of the harm these officers intended to do while roaming the highways, believing they were carrying millions of dollars in drugs and drug proceeds should they get caught.
If it wasn’t so sad, wasn’t so serious that they believed what they were doing was real, it would almost be comical, them driving to Maryland, Virginia and to a warehouse in Rocky Mount carrying what amounted to nothing, but truly believing they were going to get rich beyond their wildest dreams.
Say what you will, fake drugs or not, there was always the intent and that intent was to spit on their badges and the people they once took an oath to protect and serve. Operation Rockfish was all about that intent — Editor