By Bill Grubb
News Editor

ROGERSVILLE — The former head of the Hawkins County Sheriff's Office Narcotics Division was sentenced to 10-years in prison last week.
    Brad Depew, 44, 251 Barrett Lane, Church Hill, entered guilty pleas in July to 75 counts involving burglaries of the Hawkins County Sheriff's Office evidence room, drug thefts and drug possession.  Other charges included in the guilty plea included 47 counts of tampering with evidence, seven counts of burglary, five counts of possession of burglary tools, five counts of theft under $500, felony official misconduct, and eight counts of misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance.
    Depew, 44, of Church Hill, was also fined $8,650 by Judge Thomas Wright.  He will be eligible for parole after serving 30 percent of his sentence. Depew was a 23-year veteran of the Hawkins County Sheriff's Office, including more than a decade as a narcotics detective prior to his dismissal.
    The judge denied a judicial diversion and/or other alternative sentencing.
    Depew, who was demoted from the narcotics division to a deputy after Sheriff Ronnie Lawson took office in September 2010, was fired from the Hawkins County Sheriff's Office after being charged in 2011.
    He began serving his sentence immediately after the sentencing hearing.