Ex-deputy Zach Wester drug-planting victims to share in nearly $1 million settlement

The victims of Zach Wester, the ex-North Florida deputy convicted of planting drugs on innocent drivers, will share in a nearly $1 million federal court settlement, sources have told the Tallahassee Democrat.

More than 30 people who were arrested by Wester, a former deputy with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, and later sued agreed to the settlement Oct. 11 at the conclusion of a daylong conference in U.S. District Court in Pensacola.

Terms of the settlement were not publicly released at the time and still have not appeared in court documents. However, the Democrat confirmed that the amount is just shy of seven figures.

The amount awarded to each of the plaintiffs varied from just under $20,000 to more than $70,000, depending on the type of damages they suffered. Plaintiffs who lost their kids in child custody matters related to their false arrests were paid the highest amount, sources said.

Chronicling the Wester case:

• 'RUINED LIVES': As drug-planting probe intensifies, people charged share their stories

• 'He gets to feel the pain': Wester arrest a righting of scales of justice for alleged victims

• More federal lawsuits piling up against deputy accused of planting meth

• 'Something we're not proud of': Fired deputy Zach Wester arrested in drug planting probe

• 'Damn sure ain't mine': See the bodycam video that sparked the drug planting probe, arrest

Wester, 30, was found guilty last year on charges of racketeering, fabricating evidence, official misconduct, false imprisonment and possession of controlled substances and paraphernalia. He was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison, a sentence he’s serving in Colorado.

His crimes stemmed from traffic stops that began with minor traffic infractions but culminated with innocent people going to jail on bogus drug charges, including possession of meth. Many of the victims saw their lives crumble as a result. Prosecutors wound up dropping charges in more than 100 cases.

Who is Zach Wester? What we know about the ex-deputy accused of planting drugs and his criminal case

Wester went to work for the Sheriff’s Office in May 2016 and was fired in September 2018 after self-incriminating body-cam videos and other evidence came to light, including a secret stash of ready-to-plant evidence in the trunk of his patrol car.

U.S. Magistrate Judges Hope Cannon and Michael Frank presided over the settlement conference. All parties participated, including the plaintiffs, the Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Sheriffs Risk Management Fund, which will pay the settlement, and Wester, who appeared by phone.

According to sources, some of the plaintiffs already have received their settlement checks. Lawyers for the Sheriff’s Fund did not return phone calls. Jackson County Sheriff Donald Edenfield, elected after the Wester crimes occurred, also did not return a phone call.

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Ex-deputy Zach Wester victims to share in nearly $1M settlement