DEPUTY FIRED IN WAKE OF DRUG CHARGES

PORTSMOUTH -- A Norfolk sheriff's deputy who told police he sold cocaine to
friends was arraigned Monday on drug charges.

Sean Kelley Kirshon, of the 5600 block of Greenefield Drive South in
Portsmouth, was charged with felony possession of cocaine and having a
firearm while in possession of drugs and misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

A Portsmouth General District Court judge ordered Monday that he be held
without bond.

Kirshon, 30, worked in the Norfolk sheriff's office for about four years,
said spokesman Don Bolger. He was fired Monday because of the "facts of the
case," Bolger said.

Until his arrest, Kirshon had a flawless record at work, Bolger said. He
supervised inmates with nonviolent offenses on the work-release program. He
made $26,715 a year as of September 2001, according to city records.

The sheriff's office is conducting an internal investigation, Bolger said.
He said he did not know the scope of the probe.

Police filed for a search warrant after undercover Chesapeake officers
reported that Kirshon sold drugs to them Friday, said Tommy Kullman, a
police spokesman in that city.

Kullman said detectives would not say where Kirshon sold them the drugs.
Chesapeake and Portsmouth police arrested Kirshon at 8:50 p.m. Friday after
searching his house in Portsmouth and finding one ounce of a substance
thought to be cocaine and a loaded 9 mm handgun, according to a police report.

Kirshon then told officers he sold cocaine to his friends, the police
report said.

Police seized cocaine, marijuana, smoking devices, scales, a handgun, a
cell phone and a computer from Kirshon's home, according to a search warrant.

Kirshon appeared to be working alone, Kullman said.

From August 1995 to March 1998, Kirshon worked in the Chesapeake sheriff's
office, said Col. Claude Stafford, the department's undersheriff.

He was hired as a van driver and was a deputy when he resigned, Stafford said.

Stafford would not answer questions about Kirshon's record, saying it was a
confidential personnel matter.

Kirshon was being held Monday in the Portsmouth City Jail. His preliminary
hearing was set for May.