A Seminole County deputy who admitted to stealing prescription pain pills to support an addiction, may have the charges against him dropped. Jason Bender has one year to finish the terms of this plea agreement, which includes a drug court diversion program.
The former Seminole County Sheriff's Office lieutenant, was caught stealing from a secure drug safe at the office, according to a report.
An investigative reports shows the agency recommended four counts of grand theft of a controlled substance and trafficking cocaine, which could have landed him in prison for more than 20 years.
“He definitely got a break with the change of the charges, and then there's the question of whether he could've even gotten into drug court with the trafficking charge,” WFTV Legal Analyst Bill Sheaffer says.
An inventory check revealed more than 500 prescription pills, including oxycodone and hydromorphone, were missing from the safe, along with 39 grams of cocaine.
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Bender admitted to stealing some of the pills, but said the cocaine he spilled on the carpet.
He told Sheriff Don Eslinger, “I never understood why people were drug addicts until I was one. And I'm so embarrassed. I respect all of you so much. Sheriff, I'm so sorry. This is not, this not what I intended at all. God, all I wanted for you to be was proud of me."
Shortly after the confession, Eslinger personally drove Bender home to tell his wife before he was arrested, saying, “Let’s go out there and we'll do it face to face. I'll drive out there with you. We, we'll go out there."
A spokesperson for the state attorney's office said it's not unusual to deviate from the recommended charges because charges are filed based on what a prosecutor can prove. Bender, they said, is also a first time offender, who they believe is suffering from an addiction, and still faces losing his law enforcement certification.