Good to see more and more of these guys getting nailed. I'm sure it's just the low hanging fruit at this stage though.

What I don't like about "NOW THIS" videos, is everythiung is paraphased, and video is chopped from the original "found" video.
No names are given.

So here is more info.
Zach Wester, 26, was arrested on felony charges of racketeering, official misconduct, fabricating evidence, possession of a controlled substance and false imprisonment.

The one-time Jackson County deputy faces misdemeanor charges of perjury, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said.

He was arrested by FDLE agents and taken to the Wakulla County Jail, where he is being held without bail.


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/07/10/former-jackson-county-deputy-zach-wester-arrested-drug-planting-probe/1693260001/

Guy had to be an idiot to plant stuff without his bodycam 'malfunctioning'.

Anything less then life in prison is a slap on the wrist.

Good thing being an idiot isn't a valid legal defense lol.

As he was under investigation, it's possible they "fixed" his body cam to not stop filming when the Malfunction Feature button gets pressed.

Also, he should be going up on drug trafficking and distribution charges, not just mere possession.

What's his motive? Did he do this just so he would get credit for a bunch of drug busts?

From what I have been told many of the smaller county's budgets are directly tied to arrest and conviction statistics.

This creates a multitude of problems.
Officers literally have to score X convictions or their buddy might "loose his job".
Similarily, the only way out of traffic duty up the career ladder might be a high conviction rate.
The sick thing is that this just the tip of the iceberg. AFAIK departments have been doctoring their statistics for so long it has widely become accepted that you literally go "fishing" once the next review period comes up (usually its more like speeding/broken tail lights, etc) and is widely viewed as common practice.
However after 9/11 a lot of departments have inflated their expenses with more equipment/personel (go look how many redneck county police deparments have their own Special Tactics Squads...) - combine that with poor budgeting and you can see where this goes...
Not all the blame can be put on the police though - a lot of it comes down to the way the review process works (i.e. convictions vs crimes prevented - go figure which is the easier statistic to use/present).
This problem really isn't new unfortunately.