Cox’s refusal to testify led to 2016 trafficking case dismissal

According to documents obtained by New Old North, former Wayne County Sheriff’s Office Drug Unit chief Michael Cox shielded the longtime girlfriend of one of his purported confidential informants by refusing to testify against her in a 2016 drug trafficking case that involved 18 ounces of powder cocaine.

The findings come after another set of paperwork revealed the Wayne County District Attorney’s Office threw out a trafficking charge against another alleged drug dealer in 2015 — the reason, listed under ACIS Special Conditions, was “REQUEST BY M. COX.”

At the heart of the government’s case against the former deputy is the contention that two men represented in a sprawling 50-page indictment handed down by a federal grand jury in mid-August — men identified as “Drug Trafficker One” and “Drug Trafficker Two” — were not, in fact, confidential informants, as no paperwork establishing those relationships, prosecutors claim, exists.

Cox, the government alleges, was not working with vetted informants, but was, rather, “conspiring to assist” the men in their drug operations — something that was accomplished “by Cox providing protection under the ruse” that the alleged informants were assisting the WCSO, the indictment reads.

The government would ultimately, in open court, reveal the identities of “Drug Trafficker One” and “Drug Trafficker Two.”

Theodore Lee, reflected in the indictment as “Drug Trafficker One,” got a 2015 possession with intent to sell and distribute marijuana charge dropped thanks to Cox, according to case disposition paperwork brought to light earlier this month.

But the latest twist in the case involves the longtime girlfriend of Rinardo Howell, the man Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Duffy identified as “Drug Trafficker Two.”

It was June 24, 2016, and, according to the indictment, Cox arrested Howell during a traffic stop.

The then-33-year-old allegedly ate cocaine to avoid it being found, but would ultimately be charged with three counts of felony maintaining a vehicle, dwelling, or place for the purpose of trafficking a controlled substance, one count of felony trafficking of cocaine, and two counts of felony conspiracy to traffic cocaine.

The same day, Howell’s girlfriend, Laronda Leonard, allegedly fled the couple’s residence. When lawmen stopped her, she was, according to arrest records, in possession of 18 ounces of powder cocaine and two firearms.

According to the government, Cox hoped to use these arrests to convince Howell to provide the WCSO Drug Unit with information, but his attempt failed.

“Notwithstanding these arrests, Drug Trafficker Two still refused to associate with Cox,” the indictment reads.

But less than a year later, Cox detained Howell again — this time for possession of four ounces of powder cocaine.

“At this point, Drug Trafficker Two agreed to provide information to Cox,” the indictment reads. “Pursuant to his practice, Cox initially thwarted any prosecution of Drug Trafficker Two by not opening an official OCA case.”

And then, six months later, Cox allegedly texted an assistant district attorney “and requested that the June 2016 charges against Drug Trafficker Two’s longtime girlfriend be dismissed.”

“When the assistant district attorney responded that the charges were not going to be dismissed, Cox texted that he would ‘just talk to u later abt it,’” the indictment reads.

But unlike in 2015 when the D.A.’s Office threw out the charges against Lee at Cox’s request, this time, according to dismissal documents obtained by New Old North, the former deputy made the case against Leonard untenable.

“The charging officer, Mike Cox, has consistently made himself unavailable to testify in court and has expressed a lack of willingness to,” the form, signed by then-prosecutor Donna Williams, states.

Repeated attempts to discuss recent developments in the case involving the Wayne County District Attorney’s Office with District Attorney Matthew Delbridge have been unsuccessful.

Cox, who was denied pretrial release by Federal Magistrate Judge James Gates Sept. 6, appealed the decision, arguing Gates “did not properly weight the evidence,” “incorrectly applied well-established legal standards,” and failed to consider that in the two years in between Cox receiving a grand jury subpoena and his arrest, he “had not attempted to interfere with such investigation, and was otherwise living as a law-abiding citizen.”

His appeal will be heard later this month.