Former New Hanover deputy pleads guilty to drug charges

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A former lieutenant with the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office pleaded guilty to drug charges Monday.

Joseph LeBlanc was sentenced to 56 to 86 months after pleading guilty to dozens of charges. A judge granted a request from the defense to allow LeBlanc to participate in a work release program during the sentence. The prosecutor was against the idea, calling it a reward, considering that the District Attorney’s office is still dealing with cases that may have been tainted by LeBlanc’s involvement.

LeBlanc was assistant commander of the sheriff’s Vice and Narcotics Division when he was fired in June of 2013. The New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office fired LeBlanc after detectives from the Vice and Narcotics Unit noticed some irregularities with their assistant in command and reported them to the captain. Prosecutors said the 41-year-old had been stealing evidence from the county for two years.

Officials said in one case, Leblanc forged signatures from two judges more than 28 times to get drugs from a local pharmacy.

According to the defense, the father of three was hurt several times while working for the Sheriff’s Office and took opiate drugs to which he later became addicted. His attorney said LeBlanc’s addiction forced him to check himself into a rehab center in California.

LeBlanc was indicted in December of 2013 for 28 counts of obtaining controlled substances by fraud, four counts of obtaining property by false pretenses, four counts of embezzlement, four counts of altering, destroying, stealing evidence, four counts of obstruction of justice, 21 counts of misdemeanor possession of schedule II controlled substance, 28 counts of trafficking, four to 13 grams, 14 counts of trafficking, 14 to 27 grams, and one count of trafficking, 28 grams or more.

A special prosecutor from the Attorney General’s Office handled the case because of the impact on the New Hanover County District Attorney’s Office.