The trial on federal drug trafficking charges for former Leflore County Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Head has been placed indefinitely on hold after a federal judge ordered psychiatric evaluations of Head.
Head, 35, was taken back into federal custody by FBI agents April 14 after he allegedly threatened to kill himself and former coworkers at the Leflore County Sheriff’s Department while speaking with a counselor at Life Help.
The following day, federal prosecutors filed a motion requesting that Head be evaluated by psychiatrists and psychologists at a federal facility because of “the uncertainty as to the degree of the defendant’s impairment and the potential danger to others.”
The order was granted, and Head will be evaluated at a federal facility, Assistant U.S. Attorney Chad Lamar said.
A trial in federal court for Head, who has been charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, had been scheduled for May 11 in Aberdeen but has been placed indefinitely on hold pending the outcome of a mental evaluation.
Federal prosecutors requested that the evaluation consider whether Head is capable of standing trial on the charges and aiding in his defense in court.
Head was originally arrested by Sheriff Ricky Banks as he showed up to work Dec. 16 and turned over to federal authorities. According to court filings, Head allegedly accepted $1,500 to pick up about two kilograms of what he believed was cocaine in Little Round Park earlier that month.
The man Head met to pick up the cocaine was an undercover FBI agent, the drugs were fake and the drug dealer that paid Head to retrieve the package an informant, according to a signed affidavit attached to the federal indictment.
After being arraigned in federal court Dec. 16, Head was released on $10,000 bond and had remained free until the April 14 incident. While out on bond, Head qualified to run as an independent for Leflore County supervisor in District 2 against longtime Democrat Robert Moore. If convicted of a felony, he would be unable to hold office under state law.
According to court filings, Head allegedly had sought mental health treatment that morning at Life Help in Greenwood and told counselors there he was suicidal and threatened to kill Sheriff Ricky Banks and other deputies.
Life Help didn’t accept Head for treatment because he was under indictment but reported the threats to Banks, who notified federal authorities. A team of FBI agents obtained an arrest warrant and arrested Head — who was unarmed — not far from the sheriff’s office.
The former deputy had been scheduled to enter a plea on the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, on April 9, but federal Judge Sharion Aycock canceled the hearing and granted a request from Head’s attorney to allow more time to review evidence.
Before his arrest in December, Head had served as a deputy for six years and also worked as a bus driver for the Leflore County Schools.
The indictment against him remains sealed, but the attached affidavit — signed by FBI Special Agent John Quaka — alleges that Head had been in contact with the unnamed informant for several years. Quaka wrote that Head had tipped off the informant about a planned 2012 raid of his home and had also taken cash bribes to help in dismiss a DUI charge against the informant’s nephew and to check vehicle registrations in police databases.
•Contact Bryn Stole at 581-7235 or bstole@gwcommonwealth.com.
