Deputy's Drug Arrest May Undo Dozens Of Cases By Yuba-Sutter Drug Task Force
YUBA COUNTY (CBS13) — The California Department of Justice is auditing a local drug task force after one of their agents was arrested and accused of transporting millions of dollars in marijuana across the country.
Yuba County Sheriff's deputy Christopher Heath is now a defendant, accused of trafficking 247 pounds of marijuana from California to York County, Pennsylvania. Agents estimated the value at $2 million.
Heath also served on NET-5, the local drug task force. He wrote search warrants and testified sometimes as a lone witness in drug cases. Now, Sutter County District Attorney Amanda Hopper and other district attorneys are reviewing at least 62 drug cases that he helped prosecute.
"He was an agent assigned to conduct more in depth and complex cases usually having to do with narcotics," she said.
Heath's arrest means some of those cases may be dismissed and some of those convictions may be overturned.
Agents from the department of justice were inside the headquarters of NET-5, beginning an audit of the entire operation.
Heath is due back in court on Tuesday. His wife and mother-in-law are also facing charges related to his case.