- January 13, 2025
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A local 18-year-old texted County Commission Chairman Joe Mullins with an offer to sell cocaine, and Mullins contacted the Sheriff's Office, leading to the man's arrest.
A Flagler County Sheriff's Office press release, headlined "Drug dealer arrested with commissioner's help," referred to the text Mullins had received as "a random text message."
Mullins told the Observer that the phone number had been on a list of voters Mullins had been calling ahead of the coming primary election.
According to the 18-year-old's arrest report and the FCSO's press release, the text message to Mullins had offered to sell him an eight-ball of cocaine.
Mullins told the Observer that the phone number had been on a list of voters Mullins had been calling ahead of the coming primary election. But the name associated with the number on his voter list was not the name of the 18-year-old man who was arrested.
"He called my phone back thinking I was someone else, and he must've had someone's number that was no longer valid," Mullins said to the Observer in a text message. "They change the number and he must've gotten it as a cell."
After Mullins got the suspicious text message, he called FCSO Chief of Staff Mark Strobridge.
With Mullins' cooperation, the FCSO set up a "buy-bust" operation at about 12:40 a.m. Aug. 15 near a pond off Bird of Paradise Drive.
Detectives traced the text number to the phone's owner, an 18-year-old Palm Coast resident, and collected screen shots of the text messages between Mullins and the suspect.
With Mullins' cooperation, the FCSO set up a "buy-bust" operation at about 12:40 a.m. Aug. 15 near a pond off Bird of Paradise Drive.
The 18-year-old arrived and walked toward an undercover FCSO car to sell the drugs, according to the arrest report. When he approached the rear door, a detective inside identified himself as a law enforcement officer.
The suspect threw a container he was holding toward the lake. Deputies found it on the ground with a baggie containing a white rock-like substance.
A deputy then called the number the suspect had been using to set up the drug buy. The teen's phone range. The white rock-like substance weighed 3.17 grams and tested positive for fentanyl.
Deputies arrested the 18-year-old on changes of felony possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute and unlawful use of a two-way communications device.
He's previously been charged in Flagler County for possession of alcohol by a person under 21 and possession of 20 grams or less of marijuana.
Mullins, quoted in the FCSO press release, praised the Sheriff's Office and warned about the dangers of drugs.
"On Tuesday the 16th, I celebrate 11 years of sobriety," he said, according to the press release. "I hope this arrest brings this person to the realization that there is a problem in their life. It is my prayer that is a wakeup call and that he will seek help. The quick action further proves we have the finest sheriff’s office and they deserve our full support.”
When the FCSO posted a press release on the agency's Facebook page, locals speculated in the replies, suggesting that Mullins had turned in his own drug dealer or had arranged the incident and the FCSO's press release for positive media coverage ahead of the election.
Asked for a response, Mullins texted the Observer: "Addiction is a very serious issue in our society, and we need to treat it that way in this county and do the best we can to stop it by getting this stuff off the streets and help for the ones suffering. It could be anyone's child or family member or friend that got ahold of that stuff and died. It's sad that some are treating this any differently."
Strobridge told the Observer that the FCSO had reached out to Mullins for a quote for the press release, not the other way around.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly, in the press release, spoke of the incident as an example of how 'See something, say something,' protects the community.
“I thank Commissioner Mullins for immediately reporting this poison peddler,” Staly said, according to the press release. “His cooperation allowed our SIU detectives to arrange the buy-bust and get this dangerous drug off the streets. This poison peddler is now staying at the Green Roof Inn. It’s another example of how ‘See Something, Say Something’ works.”
