Link to the Sanford Herald local newspaper
A Sanford Police Sergeant is the focus of an internal and criminal investigation after agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration arrested her live-in boyfriend this week for his involvement in an illicit prescription drug trafficking ring in Seminole County.
DEA officials said during a five-month investigation of the drug ring they discovered Sergeant Cynthia Littles-Irvin was the live-in girlfriend of one of two people eventually arrested for drug trafficking.
The investigation resulted in the arrests of Damieian Trivieino Tillman, 30, of Lake Mary, and Elizabeth Ann Taylor, 33, of Casselberry.
Based on the charging documents, from June to August 2013, Tillman allegedly sold approximately 240 hydromorphone pills to an undercover agent on four different occasions. Also, Taylor brokered numerous illicit drug transactions between Tillman and her customers in the Lake County area, said officials.
Tillman, Littles-Irvin’s boyfriend, was charged with conspiracy to traffic hydromorphone, trafficking hydromorphone, possession of conveyance used for the sale of controlled substances, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. Taylor is charged with conspiracy to traffic hydromorphone.
Although Littles-Irvin has not been charged with a crime, she was placed on administrative leave with pay effective immediately pending an internal investigation and outcome of the criminal and internal affairs investigation.
Sanford Police Chief Cecil Smith said, “It’s disappointing, but we as an agency must value the trust of the community and when situations like this occur we need to take swift and decisive action to protect the integrity of the police department and the community trust.”
Littles-Irvin has been with the Sanford Police Department since 1998. She was promoted to sergeant in March 2009 and was the first female sergeant in the department.