ELLIS COUNTY, Texas (www.MyTexasDaily.com) — One of two former Ellis County Sheriff's Office (ECSO) employees was sentenced last week to prison in his role to steal and sell approximately 40 firearms from the department's evidence room.
ELLIS COUNTY, Texas (www.MyTexasDaily.com) — One of two former Ellis County Sheriff's Office (ECSO) employees was sentenced last week to prison in his role to steal and sell approximately 40 firearms from the department's evidence room.
42-year-old Philip Gary Slaughter of Mesquite, Texas, was sentenced last week by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 15 months in federal prison.
Slaughter and 50-year-old Thomas Glen Smith were charged in separate, but related cases in May 2017 and June 2017, respectively, in which they pled guilty. Smith is scheduled for sentencing on January 18, 2018.
Smith and Slaughter worked at the Ellis County Sheriff's Office in the evidence room where they were responsible for reorganizing and eventually, after obtaining a court order, with destroying hundreds of firearms seized by the Ellis County Sheriff's Office.
"Some of these firearms, however, were not destroyed and, instead, Smith and Slaughter sold approximately forty firearms taken from the ECSO Evidence Room," according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Texas.
"At various times in November and December, 2015, Smith and Slaughter pawned several firearms at various pawn stores in the Ellis County area," stated the release, referencing plea documents in the case. "The defendants would also use their Facebook accounts to sell firearms to individuals. These firearms were either supposed to be in the possession of the ECSO Evidence Room or were listed in the destruction order."