Former Granville County Sheriff Brindell Wilkins was convicted late last week by a Wake County jury on multiple counts of obstruction of justice and obtaining property by false pretenses.
The jury found Wilkins guilty of falsifying in-service training and firearms records necessary to maintain law enforcement certification for himself and other certain deputies under his command, according to information from Granville County Public Information Officer Terry Hobgood. The court sentenced Wilkins to a minimum of 18 months in prison followed by two years’ probation. He was immediately taken into custody.
Wilkin, originally indicted in September 2019, faces additional criminal charges, including two counts of felony obstruction of justice charges arising from allegations that Wilkins withheld knowledge of a credible threat to kill a former deputy and that he failed to make reasonable and professional efforts to protect the deputy. Two felony and two misdemeanor charges relating to allegations that Wilkins failed to discharge the duties of his office are also pending.
Following Wilkins’ original indictment on Sept. 16, 2019, Granville County Attorney Jim Wrenn brought an action to remove Wilkins as sheriff of Granville County. On Sept. 23, 2019, Wilkins agreed to a consent order suspending his service as sheriff pending resolution of the criminal charges. Following Wilkins’ suspension as sheriff, the Granville County board of commissioners authorized Wrenn to lead an internal investigation.
Details of the above-referenced internal investigations can be found on the Granville County website at this link: https://www.granvillecounty.org/government/county-commissioners/special-investigation-reports/.