HENDERSON, N.C. April 29 2021— Three Vance County deputies have been indicted on charges that they illegally seized a suspected drug dealer’s car and then tried to cover it up.

Stephen O’Neal Staton Sr., 52, of Creedmoor, Purav Jitendrakuma Patel, 25, of Sharpsburg, and Mitch Taybron Pittman, 47, of Tarboro, are each charged with embezzlement by a government employee, accessing a government computer to defraud, motor vehicle title fraud and four counts of criminal conspiracy. Staton and Patel also were charged with obstruction of justice, while Pittman also was charged with extortion.

Court records show a drug suspect was stopped in a 2007 Cadillac STS last year, and the three deputies worked to obtain the car for use in drug investigations.

Under North Carolina law, property seized and forfeited because of criminal activity must go to benefit the local school district. So the deputies tried to use connections in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to get the Cadillac, authorities said.

After an initial approval, Homeland Security officials advised the case didn’t meet the criteria for seizure – the driver wasn’t even charged with a drug crime. But investigators said the deputies persisted and intimidated the driver’s aunt and a Virginia car dealer into giving up ownership of the Cadillac and transferring the title over to the sheriff’s office.

District Attorney Mike Waters, who requested last June that the State Bureau of Investigation look into the seizure, said the findings and the indictments are concerning.

“All allegations of wrongdoing by law enforcement are troubling, especially when they involve sheriff’s deputies in whom the community has placed its trust,” Waters said in a statement. “The justice system must be fair and impartial. No one is above the law.”

Pittman already faced charges of extortion and obstruction in the case.

Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame said Wednesday that all three deputies have been suspended until the criminal cases are resolved, but he stands by them.

“Based on an internal investigation conducted by an outside source, violation of office policy and lack of training was found,” Brame said in a statement. “I believe in an support my officersand that protocol was followed. At this time, I do not have any evidence that would warrant the charges brought against them.”

Staton is a former SBI agent who is second in command at the sheriff’s office.

“Justice will be served. Far too often, the justice system is used to oppress. We’re going to use that criminal justice system to liberate. There needs to be a change. We’re going to start that change right now,” Patel’s attorney, William Collier, said as the men surrendered to authorities Tuesday.

All three men were released on unsecured bond.

WRAL

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