VOLUSIA DEPUTY CHARGED IN ROBBERY CONSPIRACY

DELAND -- The plan was to make a traffic stop on the outskirts of
Daytona Beach and with the help of an accomplice rob a street-level
drug dealer of money.

But the Volusia County sheriff's deputy accused of plotting the
robbery did not carry out his plan as agents from the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement arrested him Tuesday afternoon.

Eugene Walton, a school resource deputy at Campbell Middle School in
Daytona Beach, was charged with one count of unlawful compensation
and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery, said Susie Murphy,
FDLE spokeswoman.

"He did this in his capacity as a deputy," Murphy said.

Walton, 40, Daytona Beach, was also charged with one count of misuse
of confidential information, said Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson.
Walton used a sheriff's computer to run the tag and get information
on the drug dealer he planned to rob, Johnson said.

"This is something very disappointing," Johnson said. "The last thing
you want to see is a cop that goes on the wrong side of the law."

Walton has been suspended without pay and served with a notice that
he will be fired by Friday, Johnson said.

Walton has been a deputy for 13 years and worked as a school resource
deputy for nine years. Johnson said he seized Walton's uniform, gun,
badge and patrol car Tuesday.

"He has let down the kids who looked up to him as a role model,"
Johnson said. "He has disgraced the uniform and the trust put in him
to uphold the law."

Walton has been an exemplary deputy with only a couple of letters of
reprimand regarding very minor cases, Johnson said. The sheriff said
he spoke with Walton after his arrest and Walton said he was sorry,
although Johnson wondered aloud if it was because he was caught.

"This is not a mistake," Johnson said. "He took time to meet and
discuss with people what it is they were going to do."

According to Murphy, Walton became a suspect after a source informed
FDLE and the sheriff's Bureau of Investigations. Walton was arrested,
along with accused co-conspirator Harry Cooke, 37, Palm Coast, after
a month-long investigation, Johnson said. Cooke was charged with one
count of conspiracy to commit robbery.

Walton was released from the Volusia County Branch Jail on $21,000
bail while Cooke is being held on $10,000 bail, a booking officer
said Tuesday night.

There is no evidence that other deputies are involved and that any
cases Walton worked have been affected, Johnson said. Walton faces
possible criminal charges from the State Attorney's Office, Johnson said.

"We had a crooked cop. He's involved with some criminals and it
appears they planned on ripping off a dope dealer," Johnson said. "We
go after our problems and we are going to fix it."