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Former N.C. officer sentenced to 15 years for drug distribution conspiracy

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WINDSOR, N.C. – A former police officer with the Windsor Police Department was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison for accepting bribe payments from a large-scale drug trafficking organization.

He agreed to these bribes in exchange for protecting shipments of narcotics.

In addition to the 15 years in prison 33-year-old Antonio Tillmon also has to to serve five years of supervised release.

In May, Tillmon was found guilty of drug, firearm, and bribery charges following a week-long jury trial.

According to trial evidence, Tillmon accepted $6,500 from undercover FBI agents posing as drug traffickers in return for transporting a total of 30 kilograms of heroin from North Carolina to Maryland on three separate occasions between August 2014 and April 2015.

On each occasion, Tillman carried with him his Windsor Police Department badge and a firearm, and was prepared to use his badge and fake documentation to evade interference by legitimate law enforcement. The evidence at trial also showed that Tillmon was supposed to participate in another drug run on a fourth occasion the day that he was arrested—and he had brought with him five firearms, including an assault rifle.

Fourteen other defendants, 12 of whom were law enforcement or correctional officers, were charged as a result of this investigation.

Those defendants all pleaded guilty to various offenses and were sentenced in June.