Former northern Virginia jail deputy gets 6 1/2 years for drug operation, sex trafficking

A former sheriff’s deputy at a northern Virginia jail was sentenced Wednesday to 6 1/2 years in prison for smuggling drugs into the jail and for running a sex trafficking operation out of a Baltimore apartment.

Robert T. Sanford Jr., 37, worked night shifts at the Fairfax County jail as a corrections officer between 2021 and 2023, according to court records.

He admitted that he smuggled drugs and a phone into a jail inmate, including fentanyl and cocaine, for distribution among other inmates. He gave inside information to the inmate about internal investigations, and tipped him off to inmates who were cooperating with law enforcement, subjecting those inmates to intimidation.

Outside his role as a guard, prosecutors say Sanford was a pimp who trafficked women and plied them with drugs.

“There is a significant distinction between one who merely solicits escorts or uses drugs to relieve stress and escape, and one who provides housing and drugs to opioid-dependent and homeless women in exchange for sexual acts and financial gain,” prosecutors wrote.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said Sanford “preyed on the vulnerabilities of people in his care. His corruption didn’t stop with profiting from feeding the addictions of inmates in his charge. Rather than assisting homeless and addicted members of his community, Sanford used drugs to entrap them in a life of prostitution for his own gain.”

The sentence issued Thursday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria was roughly in line with that requested by prosecutors, and longer than the 4-year sentence sought by Sanford’s public defender.

Sanford apologized for his actions in a letter to the judge.

“I will continue attending therapy to ensure I remain on the right path,” he wrote. “I deeply regret my actions and the harm they caused.”

Sanford’s lawyer said mental health issues contributed to his misdeeds.