Two Richmond County officers with years of experience have been fired and arrested for bringing contraband into the jail, according to a sheriff’s press release.
Deputy Ellis Belton, 24, and Deputy Deborah Ritzy Griffin, 28, were charged Wednesday with crossing guard lines with drugs and violation of oath of officer by a public officer.
The investigation started with a tip last week that they were bringing in prohibited items to inmates at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center. The investigation confirmed the tip. A press release does not identify what items were brought in.
Deputy Griffin began her employment with the sheriff’s office on May 13, 2019 while Deputy Belton began working there on February 2, 2021, the press release says.
The arrests are part of a mounting list of Richmond County officers who end up on the other side of the bars for alleged criminal behavior.
That makes 16 officers in 15 months that have been arrested, leading Sheriff Richard Roundtree to address the matter at a March press conference. His press conference came after deputy jailers Joshua Mack Jackson and Gerardo Sanchez Jr. were arrested.
Jackson and Sanchez were shown on video at Charles B. Webster Detention Center repeatedly punching, kicking and kneeing an 18-year-old convicted felon who Roundtree said had not provoked them.
In all, eight of the 16 deputies have been charged for excessive use of force. The others are accused of domestic violence, supplying contraband at the jail, having sex with an inmate and stealing.
Roundtree asked the public at a news conference not to judge the department of some 700 by a few bad actors.
“I only ask that citizens of this county do not judge the loyalty and passion of that 99% by the selfish and misguided actions of a few individuals,” he said earlier this year.
