A former federal probation officer who admitted to lying about administering drug tests and meeting with people he was responsible for supervising was sentenced Monday, Jan. 3 to six months in prison.
Enoch Eller Jr., 47, pleaded guilty Sept. 21 in U.S. District Court to making false statements. Although the federal prosecutor and the court professional who prepared Eller’s pre-sentencing report both recommended a probation term as punishment, Judge Dudley H. Bowen Jr. sentenced Eller to six months imprisonment followed by three years on supervised release.
Eller admitted he falsified reports about administering drug tests and meeting with people he was responsible for supervising from March 2020 through June 21. Eller resigned when confronted about the lies. He had worked as a federal probation officer for 12 years.
“Enoch is a good person,” said his attorney and friend, David Stewart. He asked the judge to follow the recommendations of the prosecutor and the probation officer brought in from South Carolina to do the pre-sentencing investigation and impose a probation sentence.
Eller took two years out of his life to volunteer in Korea, a service he never sought recognition for, Stewart said. Eller, an Eagle Scout, also served in the Coast Guard and worked as a Georgia parole officer before becoming a federal probation officer. He is the kind of man who put his own desire for a college degree on hold so that his wife could pursue her education first.
Eller hasn’t escaped punishment for his wrongdoing, Stewart said. He lost a career and will forever be a convicted felon. Eller took full responsibility for what he did and expected to be punished, but Stewart asked the judge to join mercy with justice.
“I want to apologize,” Eller said Monday. He owed an apology to the judges who depended on him, to his family and his church congregation, and to his fellow probation officers, Eller said.
The federal sentencing guidelines in Eller’s case set a potential prison term of zero to six months, which allowed the judge to impose a sentence of straight probation.
