Former Martin deputy wanted for false drug arrests arrested in Leon County
Leon County, Fl- A former Martin County deputy was arrested Monday after a six-month-long investigation found concerns in his drug arrests.
In January, investigators said 29-year old Steven O’Leary claimed to find illegal drugs during traffic stops when he was employed as a deputy with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office. A Regional Crime Lab determined some of the narcotics seized by O’Leary during the arrests weren’t actually narcotics. One was a powder commonly used to treat headaches, another was a sand-based material containing no narcotics.
O’Leary was fired from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office in January. State prosecutors are looking into 80 of O’Leary’s drug arrests over an 11-month period. O’Leary is facing multiple charges, and his bond was set at $1 million.
In June, 20 people announced they were filing a lawsuit against the Martin County Sheriff’s Office and O’Leary for the questionable drug arrests.
