A former Gwinnett County Sheriff’s deputy has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release after he entered a guilty plea to drug trafficking and making false statements.
Antoine Riggins, 40, of Loganville, who was also a federally-deputized task force officer with Homeland Security Investigations (HIS), allegedly used his position to steal drugs, according to officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.
Riggins’s role at HSI ended in early 2018, and his employment with the GCSO ended after these alleged actions came to the attention of law enforcement in May 2018.
“Riggins’ alleged theft of previously seized drugs is shocking,” U.S. Attorney Byung J ‘BJay’ Pak said.
Riggins allegedly fabricated documents and made false statements in order to prevent the arrests and prosecutions of the drug trafficking suspects from whom the drugs were seized in attempt to cover his tracks, the release stated.
As a deputy and task-force officer, Riggins’ duties included investigating drug trafficking cases with HSI agents and other law enforcement officers, assisting Gwinnett County authorities to prosecute local drug cases, transporting seized drugs from HSI crime scenes to the Gwinnett County evidence vault and obtaining arrest warrants for drug traffickers.
The first incident was in February 23, 2017, when three kilograms of cocaine were seized in an HSI investigation following a high-speed chase and car crash on I-285. The owner of the drugs was identified; however, the suspect was reported to have fled the scene and was not apprehended. Riggins was assigned to transport the cocaine into the evidence vault, but the next day he checked only one kilogram.
According to the press release, Riggins allegedly falsified documents and statements in relation to the cocaine theft to cover his tracks. The indictment alleged Riggins created and submitted a falsified evidence form to the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office, presented a false court order to the Magistrate Court of Gwinnett County and made two false statements to HSI agents to prevent prosecutors from discovering the missing drugs.
Then again in July 15, 2017, six kilograms of methamphetamine were seized from an Atlanta hotel room during an HSI investigation. Riggins was asked to transport the meth to the Gwinnett County evidence vault, but none of the drugs were checked into evidence.
“Riggins engaged in conduct that betrayed the oath he took to faithfully serve the people of Gwinnett County. His behavior should not take away from the outstanding work done each day by the vast majority of law enforcement professionals around the country,” the Department of Homeland Security - Office of Inspector General’s Acting Special Agent in Charge Ronnie Tippett, said in a statement when the deception was first discovered.
