His hands and feet shackled, former Wayne County Sheriff’s Office Drug Unit Chief Michael Cox shuffled into a federal courtroom just before 10 Wednesday morning.
He looked, briefly, across a nearly-empty gallery — one void of the family members who showed up the last time he appeared before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Myers II in Wilmington.
He put his hand on a Bible and swore that what he was about to tell the court was the truth.
And despite Myers telling him that “right now, at this very moment,” he could say he was innocent and move forward with defending himself in front of a jury of his peers, less than an hour later, he pleaded guilty to two crimes that could carry with them up to 20 years of imprisonment each, more than $1 million in fines, and the seizure of his business and other assets — the result of a still-sealed plea agreement he reached with the government to avoid a trial that could have, were he convicted of the 15 charges levied against him by a grand jury in August 2023, ended in a life sentence.
“Did you do it?” Myers, at one point, asked Cox.
“Yes sir,” the former deputy responded.
But what unfolded inside the Alton Lennon Federal Building did not mark the end of a saga that began when Cox was arrested by FBI agents outside his Goldsboro business, Eastern Emergency Equipment, late last summer.
Myers still must hand down his sentence — and will not do so until mid-June, assuming Cox meets the terms of the veiled deal.
Still, as of today, a man who was once one of the WCSO’s highest-ranking lawmen is now a convicted felon two times over, having admitted to the court that he indeed conspired to distribute and possess cocaine, methamphetamine, and oxycodone, and conspired with another deputy, former WCSO Maj. Christopher Worth, to defraud the county he once swore to protect via a bid-rigging scheme.
(Worth has not yet been arraigned, as his next court date is scheduled for April 10.)
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The federal government has been investigating the WCSO for several years and in 2022, Sheriff Larry Pierce publicly acknowledged as much.
But in the statement released to the media, he said the probe was related to “old cases” handled by a “prior employee.”
“Several months ago, we were made aware of a federal investigation involving old cases that were handled by a prior employee,” Pierce said then. “We have fully cooperated with the investigation and will continue to cooperate with authorities as requested.”
And while Cox was, in 2022, retired, the sheriff’s statement made no mention of Worth, who was, until the indictment was handed down more than a year after Pierce released the quote, one of the WCSO’s highest-ranking officials.
It also did not note that every one of the allegations made by the government in the sprawling indictment that led to Cox and Worth being arrested unfolded during his tenure as the county’s top law enforcement official.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Duffy told the court, numerous times, that Cox’s offenses occurred both during and after his time as a sworn lawman.
And the evidence he rattled off to Myers before the judge agreed to accept Cox’s guilty plea included everything from the deputy allegedly shielding two known drug traffickers from prosecution, providing them with large quantities of cocaine and marijuana and “running license plates” for them to orchestrating a violent home invasion and bid-rigging that ensured his business received contract after contract from the WCSO to “upfit” vehicles, including Pierce’s Chevrolet Tahoe.
Myers reminded Cox that by pleading guilty, he was waiving his right to a jury trial and an appeal — that he would be a convicted felon for the rest of his life and the court was not bound to the sentence recommended by the government.
Cox, who stood with his hands clenched behind his back, fidgeted at times, and looked, more than once, over his shoulder to find a gallery that did not include any family members, friends, or former co-workers.
And when Duffy said the former deputy was “providing protection” and “passing sensitive information” to drug traffickers while he was head of the drug unit and later, proclaimed that “Wayne County was defrauded,” Cox lowered his head — only raising it when Myers accepted his plea.
“The defendant is now judged guilty,” Myers said at 11:04 a.m., before ordering federal marshals to take him back into custody. “Good luck, Mr. Cox.”
Should Cox comply with the conditions outlined in the plea — should those conditions be unsealed by the court, they will appear on NewOldNorth.com — 13 charges will likely be dismissed at his sentencing hearing. They include lying to a federal agent and several of the specific mail and wire fraud counts related to the overarching conspiracy charge he pleaded guilty to.
Still, U.S. Attorney Michael Easley, who was not present in the courtroom Wednesday, released a statement about what transpired and signaled that the guilty pleas were a victory for the government, Wayne County, the state of North Carolina, and “honest cops” who “deserve better.”
“As a leader of the Drug Unit, Cox’s job was to put drug traffickers behind bars, not go into business with them,” he said. “We trust law enforcement to uphold the law, but a rare few choose to abuse their positions with criminal side-hustles. Corruption like this this undermines our institutions, cheats taxpayers, and endangers the public. The people of Eastern North Carolina, and all the honest cops who put their lives on the line, deserve better and we won’t stand for it.”
