A Mississippi sheriff arrested last week in a federal drug conspiracy sting has pleaded not guilty and vowed to mount a full defense, but has stepped down from his elected office to comply with his bond agreement.

Humphreys County Sheriff Bruce Williams pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit drug distribution, drug distribution and firearms conspiracy. After a years-long investigation, Williams was arrested last Thursday by FBI agents, who fanned across the Mississippi Delta in armored cars and conducted a series of predawn arrests.

By sunrise, 20 people, including 14 law enforcement officers, across the Delta and Tennessee had been arrested.

Williams allegedly received multiple bribes from undercover FBI agents posing as Mexican cartel members “for his blessing for the cartel to operate in his county” and for the cartel to use his deputies for protection. Multiple bribes totaling $18,000 were paid to the sheriff during the conspiracy, the indictment said.

In a statement to Mississippi Today on Wednesday, Mike Carr, Williams’s attorney, said the sheriff had pleaded not guilty to all counts in the indictment in which he is named.

“We look forward to receiving and reviewing the Government’s alleged evidence in this case,” Carr said. “We anticipate a full and complete defense to all of the allegations — every accused person in this country stands not guilty until proven beyond a reasonable doubt otherwise. We are looking forward to our day in court.”

The investigation and alleged law enforcement corruption spanned counties across the Delta and stretched into Memphis, where some of the officers are alleged to have accepted bribes in exchange for providing protection to undercover FBI agents posing as members of a Mexican drug cartel.

The federal probe began years ago when the FBI Jackson field office connected with a known local drug dealer who investigators code-named “Green.” The drug dealer became a confidential informant for the FBI. Between 2023 and 2024, the officers escorted the undercover agents transporting cocaine through the rural Delta along U.S. Highway 61 and into Memphis, court records allege.

Of the 20 individuals charged, 19 are accused of illegally carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime. The charges, which are outlined across multiple indictments, portray an operation that extended from rank-and-file patrol officers up through police chiefs and sheriffs.

In Humphreys County, Williams ran unopposed for sheriff in 2023 and had been serving a four-year term set to expire in 2027.

Williams took a leave of absence following his arrest, and the Humphreys County Board of Supervisors appointed former Belzoni police Chief Mickey Foxworth as interim sheriff. That is because federal authorities offered Williams a bond agreement that prohibits him from staying employed as a law enforcement officer. The agreement demands that he seek another form of employment, the bond agreement shows.

The other elected sheriff arrested in the federal takedown, Washington County Sheriff Milton Gaston, is also accused of attempting to disguise bribes in the form of “campaign contributions.” Court records did not show an attorney listed for Gatson, and it was not clear on Wednesday if he had entered a plea yet.

The arrests stunned residents of the Delta, one of the poorest regions of the country. Residents were still reeling from a mass shooting in October that killed nine people and wounded a dozen more during or after high school and college homecoming celebrations.