Florida police linked to DEA investigated the drug trade. Then they got involved, FBI says

Two Florida police officers were tasked with helping the DEA investigate the drugs flooding streets across the state. Now, they’re facing federal cases: one accused of purchasing drugs and the other of stealing them from busts — then selling them.

While it’s unknown if the two cases are linked, Joshua Earrey and James Darrell Hickox, who served on the same DEA task force, were arrested by the FBI on March 10. Earrey, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper, is facing a drug use in possession of a firearm charge. Hickox, a Nassau County sergeant, was charged with drug possession with intent to distribute.

Both men’s cases will be tried in the U.S. Middle District of Florida. Investigators’ focus on the officers emerged after receiving information from a defendant arrested by Homeland Security Investigations for drug offenses in August. It’s unclear whether the same source came forward in both cases, but in the affidavits, which were filed by the same FBI agent, he’s described as a “convicted felon since 1996” with a slew of drug convictions.

The source in both cases was interviewed three times on the same dates: Aug. 29, Oct. 11 and Feb. 15.

FBI: Hickox pushed drugs from busts

Hickox, who worked in the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office narcotics unit from 2014 to 2022, was at the center of an alleged Breaking Bad-inspired operation, according to court records. At the time of his arrest, he was working in the civil unit, serving subpoenas and eviction notices.

The source who came forward about Hickox said the 37-year-old stole drugs and cash he seized during searches. Additionally, they said he and another unnamed source helped Hickox and a fellow officer buy and sell drugs, including cocaine.

Hickox, the source told the FBI, added a cutting agent to the seized drugs and submitted the altered narcotics to the DEA to retain their original weight. The team split the drugs while on camera in the car Hickox used several times because they forgot the camera was there, according to court records. And in one instance, outside the DEA office.

They pushed the cocaine on the streets, the source said, and did the same with other drugs, including marijuana and pills. Hickox and the other officer reaped the profits though the source said he was awarded money from DEA busts at least seven times.

When the FBI searched Hickox’s home, they found a detached garage with a “Gator’s Man Cave” sign hung on the wall.

There was also a green plastic ammunition box. Its contents: bags with more than 60 grams of unidentified powder, crack cocaine, a loaded revolver, source payment receipts and 44 grams of fentanyl, court records say. Then, there was a cabinet storing 17 grams of cocaine and another 124 grams of fentanyl.

In the Gator’s Man’s bedroom closet were thousands of sugar pills, a packet labeled “100 roxies 30mg” and a shoebox containing $100,000, according to court records. Inside a safe: five stacks of hundred dollar bills making up about $76,000. The search of the house’s attic found three pistols in a DEA bag and a duffel bag with three kilo bricks of bezocaine, which is used to cut cocaine.

Hickox’s police cruiser housed three unidentified cellphones, two of which were prepaid, according to court records. In his office, a laptop bag hid 300 to 400 grenade-shaped ecstasy tablets.

From 2020 to 2022, Hickox deposited almost $87,000 from an unknown source into seven bank accounts. He told the FBI the money was either borrowed from family or from gambling.

Hickox is being held without bond. If convicted, he could be behind bars for anywhere from five to 40 years.

Source: Earrey battled oxycodone addiction

Earrey, an FHP officer of 22 years in Duval County, was assigned to the DEA task force in 2020. The 2009 Trooper of the Year had back surgery on Jan. 19 and was on light duty at the time of his arrest.

The source who came forward about Earrey, 44, told the FBI that Earrey is addicted to oxycodone and purchased pills from a DEA confidential source with whom he worked. The DEA backed up the source’s claims, confirming that Earrey interacted with the DEA source through his tenure.

Earrey, the source said, became addicted to “roxies,” or oxycodone, due to back problems. According to court records, he has had 43 prescriptions for painkillers, including oxycodone and morphine, since 2018.

Earrey often bought up to 10 pills for $30 each, the source told the FBI. The dealer obtained 80 to 90 pills a month through a prescription. Earrey’s most frequently contacted number, according to court records, was the dealer — even though they only worked together from January 2021 to March 2022.

Thousands of messages obtained through a search warrant detailed their daily pleasantries as well as plans on when and where to link up, court records show.

In some texts, Earrey begged for more drugs — and more time to pay him back.

“I’m sorry bud,” Earrey wrote in a message. “It’s just been a bad weekend. Call you once out of the hospital then I’ll come see you. Save me those 30”

“can you help me out please,” he wrote. “Let me give you 150 today. And the rest Saturday. Please.”

Others were more stern, with Earrey reminding the dealer about how he puts his career in jeopardy to stay in contact with him. The DEA told the FBI Earrey shouldn’t have purchased oxycodone through work because he didn’t follow proper procedure and the dealer wasn’t being investigated.

“Not screwing you but damn man it has to be good for me also,” Earrey wrote. “And I take a hell of a lot of risk to get fired to help you.”

“She’s told me a lot man,” he wrote about a woman the dealer’s connected with. “Why would she call. What does she have to gain by telling me all of this. I really wish she didn’t know about you and me. That’s not good.”

That was one of the last messages before Earrey and the dealer began to communicate on Signal, an encrypted messaging service.

Earrey’s gun charge stems from an FBI interview with an acquaintance, who said Earrey owned Glocks as well as an AR-10. Both types of weapons aren’t manufactured in Florida, and Earrey allegedly had them on him while “affecting interstate and foreign commerce.”

Earrey, who was granted a bond, is at a residential treatment facility. If convicted, he could be locked up for a maximum of 15 years in federal prison.