MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A former sheriff’s deputy in Tennessee has been sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for bribing an alleged drug dealer.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Memphis says Jeremy Drewery was sentenced Wednesday. Drewery was convicted in December on charges including extortion, bribery and tampering with a witness while he was working for the sheriff’s office in Shelby County, which includes Memphis.
Drewery executed a search warrant at an alleged drug dealer’s home in August 2016. Drewery said he would not start a criminal case on the man if he gave Drewery money.
The man contacted the FBI, which began investigating. Drewery met with the alleged drug dealer and received $8,000 over a three-week period. Later, Drewery tried to hire someone to kill the alleged drug dealer.