Couple’s charges dropped in 2020 drug raid, shooting of officer; 2 officers involved in raid charged
Charges have been dropped against a man and a woman in a 2020 raid that resulted in the shooting of an officer from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
Action News Jax told you when Diamonds Ford and her fiancé Anthony Gantt, both now 31, were arrested and charged with the attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and armed possession of marijuana with intent to sell following a raid on their home on Sept. 28, 2020.
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“Honestly, it’s been hell. It’s been very hard hard keeping everything afloat, knowing I couldn’t work as a pharmacy technician due to my charges,” Diamonds Ford said.
In 2020, undercover officers were surveying the home near Ken Knight Drive for drug activity, according to court documents from the State Attorney’s Office. Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office SWAT members went to serve a search warrant at the home, after witnessing several people going in and out. Ford said no one ever announced they were police. SWAT members said they announced several times.
The couple heard glass shattering, and thought someone was breaking in their home. Ford said she ran to get her gun and fired at an officer.
“If you don’t execute these warrants safely, you’re gonna lose citizens like Diamonds Ford and Brianna Taylor,” Wade Rolle, Ford’s attorney, said. “And, you’re gonna lose good police officers.”
The SWAT team did find marijuana inside the home, and charged the couple.
Three years later, the charges are being dropped, because of those who handled the case.
“All the cases that their fingers touched, the evidence, is possible to get a re-hearing and a new trial,” Action News Jax Law and Safety Expert, Dale Carson, said.
In February 2021, Action News Jax also told you how activists were calling for the charges against Ford and Gantt to be dropped.
The State Attorney’s Office said the charges against Ford and Gantt are being dropped because two officers involved in the raid -- Florida Highway Patrol trooper Joshua Earrey and former Nassau County Deputy James Hickox -- are now facing criminal charges.
Hickox is accused of engaging in conduct “where he would steal money and drugs that were seized in investigations,” according to court records from the State Attorney’s Office. Additionally, documents state “on several occasions, he would retriever drugs from the property room, claiming that they had been authorized for destruction.”
Hickox is charged with nine federal criminal counts. Earrey is accused in four related crimes, according to the State Attorney’s Office.
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The SAO released the following statement to Action News Jax:
“The criminal indictments of two DEA task force members — who are essential to the State’s evidence — are fatal to the prosecution of Diamonds Ford and Anthony Gantt.
“As our disposition explains, the charges against Trooper Earrey and NCSO Deputy Hickox result in the State no longer being able to proceed and the dismissal of charges against Ford and Gantt. But for these arrests, the prosecution would have continued.
“We have explained the impact of these indictments to the officer, his fellow SWAT members, and JSO’s leadership, all of whom understand the reasoning behind this decision.”
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Action News Jax’s Meghan Moriarty is going through the full disposition statement (below) and will have the latest updates on CBS47 Action News Jax at Noon:
Diamonds Ford and Anthony Gantt Disposition of Charges (Redacted) by ActionNewsJax on Scribd
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