JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A former sergeant with the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office is set to be sentenced Monday morning after pleading guilty to federal drug charges.
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According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, James Hickox faces a maximum penalty of 50 years in federal prison for charges including conspiring to distribute narcotics, conspiring to defraud the United States, and tax evasion.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office states that Hickox and his co-conspirator, Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Joshua Earrey, engaged in corrupt activities from 2017 to 2023.
Hickox’s actions included stealing money and illegal drugs taken as evidence during criminal investigations, providing illegal drugs like fentanyl and cocaine for distribution, and hiding over $420,000 from the IRS.
Hickox and Earrey reportedly stole more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana from evidence and provided it to others to sell, covering up the theft with falsified paperwork indicating the marijuana had been destroyed.
News4Jax previously spoke with Curtis Fallgatter, a criminal defense attorney not associated with the case in 2023, about the potential impact of Hickox’s actions. Fallgatter noted, “It could be fairly dramatic. As we said, he’s been in narcotics and on the task force with federal and state officers for over a decade.”
The effects of Hickox’s actions were evident in November 2023 when charges were dropped against two individuals in a case where Hickox and Earrey would have been witnesses.
Diamonds Ford and her fiancé were arrested after a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office SWAT team member was injured by a bullet Ford fired through a window. The officer survived, but Ford and her fiancé were charged with attempted murder of a law enforcement officer.
News4JAX spoke with Ford after the charges were dropped. She described the ordeal as “hell.”
“It’s been very hard trying to keep everything afloat knowing that I couldn’t work as a pharmacy technician due to my charges,” said Ford. “I’ve experienced constantly looking for jobs and they constantly denied me because of my background because of these charges.”
The State Attorney’s Office, in its disposition dropping the charges, noted that Hickox used a confidential source to conduct undercover buys at a house on Rutledge Pearson Drive and set up a drug raid with JSO SWAT’s help.
The disposition stated, “Given the nature of the charges, Earrey and Hickox are no longer available as state witnesses. More importantly, the allegations against Earrey and Hickox raise significant questions about the events leading up to the execution of the search warrant that led to the shooting.”
Hickox is expected to be sentenced Monday at 9 a.m. at the federal courthouse in Jacksonville. He faces a maximum penalty of 50 years in federal prison, with a minimum mandatory sentence of five years.