A former deputy sheriff at a northern Virginia prison was sentenced Wednesday to 6.5 years in prison for smuggling drugs into the prison and running a sex trafficking operation from a Baltimore apartment.
Robert T. Sanford Jr., 37, worked as a night shift correctional officer at the Fairfax County Jail between 2021 and 2023, court documents show.
He admitted to smuggling drugs and a phone to an inmate, including fentanyl and cocaine, to distribute to other inmates. He gave the inmate inside information about internal investigations and tipped him off about inmates cooperating with police, which intimidated those inmates.
In addition to his role as a security guard, prosecutors allege Sanford was a pimp who trafficked women and sold them drugs.
“There is an important difference between someone who merely solicits escorts or uses drugs to relieve stress and escape, and someone who provides housing and drugs to opioid-addicted and homeless women in exchange for sexual acts and financial gain,” prosecutors wrote.
Jessica D. Aber, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said Sanford “preyed on the vulnerabilities of those in his care. His corruption did not stop at profiting from the addictions of prisoners in his care. Instead of helping homeless and addicted members of his community, Sanford used drugs to trap them in a life of prostitution for his own gain.”
The sentence imposed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria was roughly the same as prosecutors had sought and longer than the four-year sentence Sanford’s public defender had requested.
Sanford apologized for his actions in a letter to the judge.
“I will continue to attend therapy to ensure I remain on the right path,” he wrote. “I deeply regret my actions and the harm they have caused.”
Sanford’s attorney said mental health issues played a role in his crimes.