Accused drug dealer arrested after tip by Flagler County Commissioner Joe Mullins

An 18-year-old man was arrested after making a "random" phone call offering to sell cocaine to Flagler County Commission Chairman Joe Mullins, according to a release from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and Mullins.

Jack Edward Fisher, previously of Leidel Drive in Palm Coast and now listed as transient, was charged with felony possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute and unlawful use of a two-way communication device Monday during an undercover operation set up by the Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit, the release stated.

Fisher was released later that day from the Flagler County jail on $3,000 bail.

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Mullins said in a phone interview that he contacted Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Chief of Staff Mark Strobridge after receiving a "random phone call" offering to sell him an “eight-ball” of cocaine.

The sheriff’s office investigation unit guided Mullins as the commissioner arranged an in-person meeting with Fisher by a lake near Bird of Paradise Drive in Palm Coast.

Fisher arrived at the lake and approached an undercover vehicle about 12:40 a.m. Monday, according to a release and charging affidavit. When a detective identified himself as a law enforcement officer, Fisher tossed a container he was holding in his right hand toward the lake, the affidavit stated.

Deputies found a clear plastic baggy containing a white rock-like substance next to the container on the ground, the affidavit stated. The rock-like substance tested presumptive positive for fentanyl, according to the affidavit.

Fisher was then arrested without incident, the release said.

The 3.17 grams of white rock-like substance was a sufficient amount to potentially kill 1,585 people, the release stated.

In a statement in the release, Mullins said he hoped Fisher gets help.

“The safety of our community is my priority and the men and women of the sheriff’s office risk their lives every day. I felt it was my duty to get involved knowing that drug dealers are dangerous people and carry guns many times,” Mullins stated in the release. “On Tuesday the 16th, I celebrate 11 years of sobriety. I hope this arrest brings this person to the realization that there is a problem in their life. It is my prayer that is a wakeup call and that he will seek help. The quick action further proves we have the finest sheriff’s office and they deserve our support.”

Mullins is facing a Republican primary challenge from Leann Pennington for his seat on the county commission.

Mullins was in the news recently after being pulled over twice in June for speeding and both times telling the troopers that he was a county commissioner. Mullins was driving a red Ferrari when he was stopped by a trooper in Flagler County on Interstate 95. Mullins told the trooper "I run the county."

Mullins later told The News-Journal that he was trying to tell the trooper that he knew the ticket process and did not need to take the time to explain it to him.

Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly thanked Mullins for immediately reporting the incident.

“His cooperation allowed our SIU detectives to arrange the buy-bust and get this dangerous drug off the streets. It’s another example of how ‘see something, say something’ works,” Staly said in the release.

Fisher has a prior arrest in April on misdemeanor charges of alcohol possession by a person under 21 years of age and possession of 20 grams or less of marijuana, according to the release. The State Attorney's Office later dropped the charges against him.

'Hey, man, do you still need what you wanted a week ago?'

Mullins said in an interview on Tuesday that after he got home Sunday from campaigning, his phone rang.

“And I answered it," Mullins said. "And the guy said ‘Hey, man, do you still need what you wanted a week ago?’ and I went, ‘What are you talking about?’ And the guy said, ‘the eight-ball?’ And me being in recovery, I certainly know what that is. And I turned around and said, ‘Man, I think you got the wrong number.’ And I hung up.”

Mullins said that on Tuesday he celebrated 11 years of sobriety. Before his recovery, he said he had been battling drugs, including cocaine, and alcohol for about a dozen years. Mullins said he became sober after going to Talbott Recovery in Atlanta for 90 days.

"It was a lot of childhood trauma that I had gone through and they helped me get through it and gave me a different way to cope with it. It put me in a great relationship with God," Mullins said. "I'm not perfect, as you guys know, you all get a lot of headlines from me."

Mullins said he started thinking about the call and what he had been through before his recovery.

“And I said, this was very bizarre. I don't know where the guy got my number, where he called from because I have a Georgia (number). So it's very odd that he had that number," Mullins said.

Mullins said he decided to call the sheriff’s office.

A detective called back and asked Mullins if he would help get the person off the streets and Mullins agreed.

The detective asked Mullins to text the man to see if the man would meet Mullins.

Mullins said he and the man, whom the sheriff’s office would later arrest and identify as Fisher, exchanged text messages for about five hours.

Mullins said he was taking screen shots of the text messages and sending them to the detective. At one point, Mullins said he accidentally sent a screenshot of a message right back to Fisher, who texted back asking why he was taking screenshots.

Detectives told Mullins to text back it was an accident. Mullins said he did and it worked.

At one point, detectives felt the texting had gone on too long and the man wasn’t serious but Mullins said he told them he would text the man one more time. Mullins said he asked detectives to let him try one more time.

“I tried him one more time and I got him convinced to come down to the pond,” Mullins said

Mullins said he later learned that Fisher had fentanyl and not cocaine.

“What’s scary is trying to figure out if this was a random thing, which I have a Georgia number so it's very odd that he would have that number,” Mullins said. “And finding out the intent of it because anyone that would have done that would have died instantly.”

Mullins said that when he became sober Fisher was 7 years old.

“I truly want to see if I can reach out to him and talk to him and get him some help because treatment is one of the only things that's going solve this problem,” Mullins.

Mullins said that he has been knocking on doors as part of his campaign and, when no one is home, he often leaves a card with his number. But Mullins said that it had been a month or two since he had been in the area where Fisher lives.

He said he asked a detective if he should ask Fisher how he got his number but a detective told him not to and to keep the text conversation going.

“He said ‘Go with it. He probably thinks you are someone else,’” Mullins said.

Arrested in incident involving autistic teen

Fisher was 16 when he was arrested in March 2021 and charged with robbery with a weapon and tampering with a witness/preventing communication to law enforcement in an incident a month earlier involving a 19-year-old autistic girl, according to a report and a press release. Two 17-year-old girls were also arrested in the incident.

The three had known the autistic girl before the incident on Feb. 17, 2021, according to the report. The 19-year-old said she was in a car driven by Fisher when she said one of the girls threatened her with a stun gun. The 19-year-old said she tried to call 911, but Fisher and the two girls took her phone from her. They then tried to take her backpack, the report stated.

The 19-year-old managed to get out of the car despite one of the girls striking her with the car door and, once out of the car, the other girl punched her numerous times, the report stated. The 19-year-old managed to get away from her and then Fisher yelled at the girls to “Come on! Get in the car!,” the report stated. The two girls got in the car and the three sped away with the 19-year-old's cellphone and other belongings, according to the report.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Flagler man arrested, accused of trying to sell drugs to Joe Mullins