6 April 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – A former Sedgwick County Deputy has been sentenced to serve over 27 years for crimes that took place in 2019.
Derick A. Chandler was sentenced to 27 years and six months by a Sumner County Judge on March 30, 2023, after pleading to two counts of electronic solicitation.
Back in August of 2019, Chandler went missing after being identified as a suspect in Summer County for allegedly being involved in something that happened between May and July of 2019. He was believed to be a danger to himself and/or others.
Shortly after, Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter announced that Chandler left the U.S. with plans to head to Turkey and join the French Foreign Legion. Easter also suspended Chandler without pay for missing three shifts.
In April of 2020, while Chandler was still missing, he was charged with five counts pertaining to “sexual misconduct with an underage female” by the Sumner County Attorney’s office.
Chandler was found and arrested in Budapest, Hungary, in early 2021 and extradited to Kansas.
On March 1, 2023, Chandler signed the guilty plea of two counts of electronic solicitation. He initially faced five charges, but the county attorney agreed to dismiss the other counts in exchange for the guilty plea.
The defense plans to ask that Chandler be allowed to serve his sentence in an out-of-state prison for his safety due to his background as a law enforcement officer.