A former Chattooga County Sheriffs Deputy was sentenced to serve three years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to violation of oath of office and use of a communications device as part of an attempt to purchase drugs in 2022 while serving as an officer with the Cave Spring Georgia Police Department.

Marvin James Armstrong, 37, was originally arrested in November 2022 after he purchased drugs while in uniform and driving a police cruiser, prosecutors said during the hearing Monday.  Marvin had been fired in August of 2022 from the Chattooga County Sheriffs Office.  That termination was right after Armstrong was involved in an accident in Floyd County.  Armstrong was not at fault in the accident that killed an eighty-seven-year-old Trion woman, but Sheriff Schrader said that Armstrong’s termination was “basically, failure to complete job duties”.

He, along with three others, was originally charged with conspiracy to purchase drugs. However, that charge was  dropped as part of the plea deal on Monday. Armstrong was also sentenced to an additional 13 years on probation.

Armstrong’s mother told Floyd County Superior Court Judge Bryan Johnson that her son was a good person in a bad situation and struggled with a pill addiction following surgery on his shoulder for an old football injury as well as back surgery as she pleaded for leniency for her son.

Judge Johnson said that the most egregious charge against Armstrong was the violation of his oath of office.