BENTON COUNTY (KFSM)– A deputy with the Benton County Sheriff’s office was fired following a drug arrest Friday (Jan. 1), according to Sheriff Kelley Cradduck.
Gabriel Cox, 19, received a citation for misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia during a traffic stop from the Rogers Police Department. He was not booked into the jail.
Cradduck held a press conference Sunday, (Jan. 3) at 10 a.m. He said Cox was a jailer at the Benton County Sheriff’s Office and a friend of his son’s.
He said Cox, his son and two other juveniles in the car were cited for misdemeanor possession of marijuana since no one in the car claimed who it belonged to.
Sheriff Cradduck said several months ago Cox was homeless and unemployed and he felt like the right thing to do was to give him the opportunity to work at the sheriff’s office.
“He stayed at my residence for a few weeks until he was able to get his own apartment through his paychecks, which he did,” Cradduck said. “I felt like things were going very very well. He was a good employee. Unfortunately this incident cost his job.”
After passing a background check, drug test and lie detector test Cox was hired, according to the sheriff.
Cradduck said during that time, one of his political opponents went to the prosecutor’s office to accuse him of back-paying Cox, an allegation which Sheriff Cradduck denies. He said he never signed a paysheet for Cox, just a form indicating his hire date. The sheriff said he was not Cox’s direct supervisor.
“It’s unfortunate that it turned into something political,” Sheriff Cradduck said. “It made it out to be that I had tried to get him paid for hours he didn’t work, which is completely false. I never signed a timesheet. I never called downtown to try to get his pay backdated. I simply signed a form when he was supposed to start.”