A former constable’s deputy at a northern Virginia jail was sentenced Wednesday to 6 1/2 years in prison for contraband medicines into the prison and for running a sex trafficking operation out of a Baltimore apartment or condo.
Robert T. Sanford Jr., 37, worked graveyard shift at the Fairfax County jail as an improvements officer in between 2021 and 2023, according to court documents.
He confessed that he smuggled medications and a phone right into a jail inmate, consisting of fentanyl and cocaine, for circulation among other prisoners. He provided inside information to the inmate concerning inner examinations, and tipped him off to inmates that were accepting police, subjecting those inmates to scare tactics.
Outside his role as a guard, district attorneys say Sanford was a pander that trafficked females and plied them with medications.
“There is a significant distinction between one who merely solicits escorts or uses drugs to relieve stress and escape, and one who provides housing and drugs to opioid-dependent and homeless women in exchange for sexual acts and financial gain,” district attorneys wrote.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. attorney for the Eastern Area of Virginia, said Sanford “preyed on the susceptabilities of people in his treatment. His corruption didn’t stop with benefiting from feeding the dependencies of inmates in his cost. Rather than aiding homeless and addicted participants of his community, Sanford made use of medicines to entrap them in a life of hooking for his own gain.”
The sentence issued Thursday in united state District Court in Alexandria was about according to that requested by prosecutors, and longer than the 4-year sentence sought by Sanford’s public protector.
Sanford apologized for his actions in a letter to the court.
“I will continue attending therapy to ensure I remain on the right path,” he wrote. “I deeply regret my actions and the harm they caused.”
Sanford’s legal representative claimed mental health and wellness problems contributed to his misbehaviours.
