BAKERSFIELD — A veteran Kern County Sheriff’s deputy was arrested last week on suspicion of bringing methamphetamine into a Kern County jail facility.
Deputy Anthony Cercone, who had been with the Sheriff’s Office for almost eight years, was booked into the Kern County Jail’s Central Receiving Facility for being under the influence of a controlled substance, bringing drugs into a jail facility and possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
According to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, Cercone has been under suspicion for several months, and on July 14, their uncertainties were confirmed after another deputy at the Lerdo Pre-trial Facility found a small amount of suspected methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia located within an employee-only restroom.
“Investigators were called out and discovered the bathroom had been used by deputy Cercone, who had just finished his shift and was the last person to access the area,” said Kern County Sheriff Public Information Officer Ray Pruitt.
That prompted investigators to obtain a search warrant and serve it a Cercone’s Bakersfield area residence, where they discovered the deputy allegedly displaying signs of being under the influence of some form of an illegal substance.
“Deputies also found several syringes, glass smoking pipes, empty drug bindles and other evidence of drug use in the suspect’s bedroom,” said Pruitt. Cercone was immediately taken into custody.
In a press conference later in the week, it was stated that investigators believe the drugs were brought into the facility for personal use only, and did not make any discovery so far which would lead them to believe that Cercone was providing drugs to inmates. Sheriff Donny Youngblood stated that Cercone is no longer employed with the Kern County Sheriff’s Office.
