Deputy sold brownies to inmates, Florida sheriff says

A Florida deputy has been arrested after the sheriff said he sold “individually wrapped” brownies to inmates.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said investigators found more than a pound of hemp brownies at the Falkenburg Road Jail in Tampa. Detectives responded to a tip Jan. 3 that the deputy was selling “drug-laced edibles” to inmates for profit and found brownies in his lunch box, according to a news release from the agency.

Deputies arrested Terry Bradford Jr., 25, on Jan. 4, according to a Facebook post from the sheriff’s department.

Bradford used CashApp to collect money from inmates and made “several thousand” dollars in profits, Chronister said.

Bradford previously worked as a Florida Department of Corrections officer at Zephyrhills Correctional Institution, according to the sheriff’s office. In August 2021, the Hillsborough County Sheriff hired him as a pre-certified deputy. According to the agency, he was sent to Falkenburg Road Prison in October 2021. He is now on administrative leave without pay.

Bradford faces charges including bringing contraband into a detention center and possession of a controlled substance, the sheriff’s office said.

“Bradford betrayed the trust of the agency and our community purely out of greed,” Chronister said in a statement. “I do not want the bad actions of one sheriff’s deputy to reflect on the hard work, dedication and selflessness of the men and women who make up the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.”