Stanly Deputy Charged With Drug Trafficking

STANLY COUNTY, N.C.,None — A Stanly County deputy was arrested and charged Wednesday with drug trafficking.

Floyd Simpson, 38, and his girlfriend, 35-year-old Tonya Benton, are each charged with trafficking hydrocodone, conspiracy to traffic and possession with intent to sell or deliver.

The Stanly County Sheriff's Office said it received a tip about three weeks ago about Simpson and conducted an internal investigation. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation was then asked to assist, and its investigation concluded with the arrests of Simpson and Benton. Simpson lost his job as a deputy.

According to the sheriff's office, the tip calls kept coming. Some came from citizens and some, the sheriff said, were from former drug dealers.

"Even the bad guys don't like dirty cops," Sheriff Rick Burris said.

Burris said Simpson had worked as a deputy for close to two years and said no crimes took place while he was on the job. Still, he said the situation could not be taken lightly.

"A drug dealer is a drug dealer, whether he's a police officer, or whether he's not," he said. "He's not above the law."

Simpson and Benton are both in the Stanly County Jail under a $150,000 secured bond.

WSOC