11 released from Martin County jail after deputy’s alleged acts
Martin County, Fl- 11 people have been released from jail after a Martin County Sheriff’s Deputy submitted evidence in drug cases that turned out not to be illegal drugs. That deputy has since been fired.
29-year old Matt Crull spent 41 days in jail, wrongly accused of being in possession of illegal drugs. Crull says he was asleep in his vehicle in the parking lot of the KFC in Jensen Beach. First paramedics showed up, then Martin County Sheriff’s Deputy Steven O’Leary. Deputy O’Leary found a white powdery substance wrapped in plastic with a hair tie around it. Crull says the powder was laundry detergent. Deputy O’Leary said it was heroin. Lots of it.
Tests later showed the substance was in fact detergent. Crull wasn’t alone. He and ten other people have recently been freed from jail because the drug that O’Leary claimed they had turned out to be legal. O’Leary has since been fired, and charges against the Crull and the 10 other people have been dropped.
The 11 people released from jail are Maxwell Tatum, Nicole McCrocy, Michael Lauderdale, Melissa Morales, Jabari Schweitzer, Yener Lopez, Gomez Rodriguez, Matthew Crull, Jason Farrenkoph, Ashley Michalski and Marialys Perez.
The Sheriff’s Office is still waiting on the results from another 120 samples sent to the regional crime lab.
