Tallahatchie County Sheriff Arrested on Narcotics Trafficking and Extortion Charges

OXFORD, MS. William C. Lamar, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi, and Christopher Freeze, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Mississippi, announced today that the Sheriff of Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, has been arrested on federal narcotics trafficking and extortion charges.

 William Brewer, 58, a resident of Oakland, Mississippi, was charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §  846, and extortion and bribery under color of official right in violation of the Hobbs Act, set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 1951.  Brewer was charged by criminal complaint in the Northern District of Mississippi. 

If convicted, Brewer faces up to 20 years in prison on each count, along with fines ranging from $250,000.00 to $1,000,000.00 per count. Brewer appeared today before United States Magistrate Judge Roy Percy.  He was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending preliminary and detention hearings which are set for August 14, 2018, at 10:00 a.m., in the Federal Courthouse in Oxford, Mississippi.

A criminal complaint is merely a charge and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.