Former Kanawha County Deputy Sheriff Sentenced for Lying to the FBI |
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U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of West Virginia
13 February 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – United States Attorney Mike Stuart announced that former Kanawha County Deputy Sheriff Robert Dwight Evans, 52, of Boomer was sentenced today to three years of probation for lying to the FBI. Stuart commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department.
“A trusted law enforcement officer aiding and abetting a drug trafficking organization. Tragic,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “No one is immune from the opioid epidemic. The brave men and women of law enforcement are on the front lines of this battle every single day. They are heroes on the front lines of this battle. Evan’s actions were reckless, dangerous, and risked the very lives of those he swore to protect.”
Evans pled guilty in October 2018, admitting that he lied to an FBI agent about buying opioid pain medication from a target of an FBI drug trafficking investigation. During the Spring and Summer of 2017, the FBI conducted an investigation of a large-scale drug trafficking organization operating in Kanawha and Fayette Counties. During that investigation, agents searched the telephone of one of the targets of investigation and recovered text messages between that dealer and Evans which revealed that Evans had been buying pills from that individual for several months. Agents also learned that Evans had run license plate numbers and Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) at the request of members and other associates of the organization.
On June 28, 2017, FBI agents confronted Evans at his residence and asked him about his involvement with the targets of the investigation. He admitted conducting license plate checks but denied buying pills from any member of the organization. The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department launched an internal investigation of Evans during which he resigned his position.
United States District Judge Irene C. Berger imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Joshua C. Hanks handled the prosecution.
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