SMITH COUNTY, Texas — An arrest warrant is shedding more light on the recent arrest of a Smith County deputy for misuse of official information.
Deputy Luis Sandoval, 28, of Tyler, was booked into the Smith County Jail on Wednesday, Aug. 11. He was released the next day after posting his $250,000 bond.
According to the arrest warrant, Sandoval admitted to being asked by "criminal associates" in an investigation to look up driver's license and warrant checks of those associates.
The warrants states during the investigation into Sandoval's actions, detectives found messages on WhatsApp between Sandoval and a criminal associate.
According to the warrant, one of the text messages, dated July 2, 2021, from a phone number in Mexico asked Sandoval to help a drug dealer cross the border into the U.S. w
"I don’t know if you can do this, but I have a friend who moves drugs so what happened was my friend, they got his truck, they got him with a bunch of drugs, now the truck’s over here, and he hasn’t crossed. His mom and wife are crossing, we need to find out if this dude has an arrest report so I need you to check that because he sent me the dude’s ID, if you could check it out for me.”
According to the warrant, Sandoval agreed to help out the associates and performed a warrant/criminal history search through the Texas Law Enforcement Telecommunication System which allowed him access to the Texas Crime Information Center. Once there, he was able to search warrants and the computerized criminal history system.
On July 3, the warrant states Sandoval texted the criminal associate back and said there were no warrants.
Sandoval was released from employment at the SCSO prior to his arrest. Sandoval had been employed at the Smith County Sheriff’s Office since November 14, 2017, until his separation on August 11, 2021. He served first as a detention officer and then transferred to patrol on September 13, 2018.
Unfortunately law enforcement officers, for one reason or another, make bad decisions," Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith said. "However, they will always be held to a higher standard at the Smith County Sheriff’s Office.."
