July 9, 2020
By: Staff Report
CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Former Harrison County Sheriff’s Deputy Timothy Rock, of Clarksburg, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 58 months and seven days for drug charges, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell announced.
“The rule of law will be applied no matter what position you hold. The defendant breached the trust bestowed upon him and broke the law. He is now being held accountable for his actions. Our office will continue to prosecute cases involving the breach of public trust and corruption,” said Powell.
After a three-day trial in November 2019, Rock, age 42, was found guilty of four counts of “Distribution of Heroin.” Rock distributed heroin in Harrison County in July, September, and October 2016.
At trial, three former confidential informants testified that Rock gave them heroin on dozens of occasions, most often by letting them keep a portion of heroin purchased in law enforcement monitored drug transactions. Two of the informants directly received uniquely packaged heroin labeled “FLIGHT 18” from Rock on other occasions. Trial evidence established that Rock acquired the FLIGHT 18 heroin from the evidence lockers at the now defunct Street Crimes and Drug Unit of the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office.
Other evidence demonstrated that Rock falsified sheriff’s department and court records to conceal his distribution of heroin to informants, and that he violated numerous other standard protocols with respect to managing informants, tracking government funds, securing evidence, and ensuring officer safety.
The judge ordered the sentence to run concurrently with a sentence imposed in Harrison County Circuit Court in a related state prosecution.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew R. Cogar and Zelda E. Wesley prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the West Virginia State Police investigated.
Senior U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley presided.
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