LITTLE ROCK — A former probation officer charged with two counts extortion in an ongoing federal investigation into drug dealing and corruption in eastern Arkansas has entered an innocent plea.
Roxanne Davis, 38, is accused of accepting bribes from drug dealers she was responsible for supervising in exchange for looking the other way while they distributed cocaine.
In a brief hearing before U.S. District Magistrate Judge Jerome Kearney, Davis entered an innocent plea to the formal charges. She was allowed to remain free pending a trial scheduled for Nov. 19.
Davis is the sixth law enforcement officer among dozens of defendants charged in Operation Delta Blues, an FBI-led probe into drug dealing and corruption centered in Helena-West Helena and extending into the surrounding region.
She resigned from her position as a state parole officer two days after being arrested.
If convicted, Davis faces up to 20 years in prison on each count.