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Hillsborough County Deputy Jailed On Drug, Theft Counts

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 10, 2008

Updated: 01/09/2008 11:22 pm

TAMPA - A Hillsborough County deputy was arrested Wednesday on drug and theft charges.

Deputy Stuart Wesley Bell, 33, was charged with five felony counts of fraudulently obtaining drugs from a physician, two felony counts of falsifying records, one felony count of tampering with evidence and one misdemeanor of petty theft.

The 9-year veteran assigned to District 2 was suspended without pay, said Debbie Carter, spokeswoman for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

During a monthlong investigation, internal affairs detectives said, officials learned that Bell unlawfully removed three prescription pill bottles, including oxycodone valued at $100, from a suspect's home in November. Bell was acting as backup for another deputy serving an arrest warrant.

Bell tampered with the evidence by removing the pills from the container, the sheriff's office said. Bell's fraud charges stem from falsifying two sheriff's office incident reports. Carter did not specify how the reports were falsified.

Investigators also discovered that Bell obtained prescriptions for controlled drugs from two or more physicians within a 30-day period five times between June 20 and Dec. 31.

Detectives received information Dec. 12 about Bell that triggered the investigation.

Bell joined the sheriff's office in 1998. In 2007, he was in a car accident on Interstate 4 when a black pickup changed lanes abruptly, causing him to swerve his patrol car into a guardrail. His cruiser spun three times and Bell sprained his wrist.

Bell and another deputy were suspended for 20 days in 2002 after they posed for pictures with women who were exposing their breasts and buttocks during a Guavaween celebration he was working as an off-duty security assignment, according to published reports. Another deputy who took the photos and other questionable videos was fired.

Bell was being held at Orient Road Jail with no bail set, records show.

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