The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office announced on Sept. 19 that former deputy Robert T. Sanford Jr., 37, received a 78-month prison sentence for smuggling drugs and contraband into the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. According to court documents, Sanford was a correctional officer at the ADC from May 2021 to June 21, 2023.

“Robert Sanford preyed on the vulnerabilities of people in his care,” said Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.  

According to a release by the Department of Justice, Sanford provided contraband to an inmate, including a cell phone, distribution quantities of fentanyl, cocaine, and Suboxone, as well as latex gloves and glue to conceal the contraband. The inmate trafficked the drugs to other inmates. Sanford also provided the inmate information about cell searches, cell blocks, strip searches, and drug-sniffing dogs. In addition, “Sanford distributed drugs to women who lived in and prostituted themselves out of an apartment that Sanford leased,” states the release by the Department of Justice. A strip search of Sanford's co-conspirator in May 2023 found a cellphone, charging cables, 92 counterfeit oxycodone pills, 174 strips of Suboxone, and over three grams of cocaine in his underwear.

On June 5, Sanford pled guilty to providing drugs and other contraband to an inmate at the Fairfax ADC in exchange for bribe payments. He faced a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each of two counts of conviction, stated the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Virginia.