By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Isaac R. Lopez, currently serving a 10-year sentence in a Florida prison for trafficking in methamphetamine, was sentenced last week to another prison term but most likely won’t have to spend any additional time behind bars.
Circuit Judge Todd Stearns sentenced Lopez, a former policeman in Atmore and Flomaton, to serve an additional 5-year stint for violating his oath of office by using his position as a lieutenant with the Flomaton police department for personal gain. Lopez had entered a guilty plea to the charge in December 2022.
That legal action evolved from Lopez’s use of a City of Flomaton cell phone to arrange a December 7, 2020 deal for two ounces of meth from a “dealer” who was actually an undercover narcotics officer with the Escambia County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office. He was arrested near Molino, Fla. moments after the deal was consummated.
The Alabama sentence, however, is to run concurrently with the Florida one, so it will be served in its entirety during the first half of Lopez’s trafficking sentence, provided he stays out of trouble during his incarceration.
He will also reportedly be given credit for the more than 10 months he was held in the Escambia County Jail in Pensacola while waiting for the judge to decide his fate.
Lopez recently appeared before a Florida judge and entered a guilty plea to one count each of attempting to distribute more than 28 grams and less than 200 grams of methamphetamine and using a two-way communications device to facilitate a felony. If he had gone to trial and been found guilty, he would have faced up to 30 years in state prison and a fine of more than $100,000.
According to Florida Department of Corrections records, the former law enforcement officer is currently housed at Northwest Florida Reception Center’s male campus annex in Chipley. Unless he is awarded parole or a pardon, he will remain in prison until December 2, 2032.