Former Hollandale Police Chief Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug Trafficking Charges

Brandon Addison, the former police chief of Hollandale, pleaded guilty in federal court in Oxford on March 19 to transporting and distributing illegal drugs through the Mississippi Delta and into Memphis via Highway 61, accepting $37,500 in bribe payments, and conspiracy, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Mississippi announced.

Addison, 41, is the principal defendant in a federal drug trafficking case that names nine former Mississippi Delta law enforcement officers. The $37,500 in bribes he admitted to accepting is the largest amount alleged among six indictments unsealed Oct. 30 by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The case unfolded across several years of FBI undercover work. Addison traveled to Miami in April 2023 and again in September 2024 to meet with federal agents who were posing as members of a Mexican drug cartel. A prior indictment added counts of carrying or using a firearm during four separate drug trafficking runs and while conspiring to traffic illegal drugs; prosecutors said some of those related charges were dropped as part of his plea agreement.

Senior U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills accepted the guilty plea and set sentencing for Aug. 13. Mills released Addison on a $10,000 unsecured bond following his arrest. Federal sentencing guidelines call for a prison term between 10 years and life, with potential fines up to $10 million, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Addison's plea is one of several to emerge from a broader federal takedown that drew national attention when 14 Mississippi Delta law enforcement officers were arrested in October. Two other former officers have since pleaded guilty: Dequarian Smith, a former Humphreys County deputy and Isola police officer who admitted to helping protect an illegal drug shipment through the Delta, and Martavis Moore, a former Greenville police officer accused of trying to facilitate a drug shipment through Greenville in March 2023.

Community reaction to the wave of guilty pleas has been sharp. "Oh man, my reaction was like, 'Wow, really this many law officers,'" said Kimberly Randle.

Law enforcement officials in the region framed the pleas as a measure of accountability. "I think that if these guys betrayed the law and they plead guilty, I think it's a step in the right direction," said Sunflower County Sheriff James Haywood. Greenville Police Chief Marcus Turner echoed that standard: "As law enforcement officers, we are held to a higher standard. We took an oath of office, and I guess with these officers pleading guilty, they have to make the best decision not only for themselves but for their families as well."

Addison's sentencing will test how federal courts weigh a decadelong breach of public trust against the terms of a negotiated plea in a case that implicated the very officers entrusted with policing the Delta's most vulnerable corridors.