UPDATE (01/05/21): The charges against Hancock were dismissed in December after a “more thorough investigation.”

ORIGINAL STORY (03/17/20): A member of Sanford city government’s commission on the opioid abuse epidemic has offered his resignation to the city council after a March 13 arrest on charges of possessing and trafficking opioids, The Rant has learned.

Armunda Gene Hancock was charged on March 12 with trafficking opiates by possession, trafficking opiates by transportation, possession with intent to sell and distribute opiates, and other drug charges, according to the Wake County Sheriff’s Office.

According to a spokesman for the department, “a Wake County Sheriff’s Deputy was working U.S. 1 Southbound, near Old U.S. 1, on March 13, at around 6 p.m., when he noticed a white Cadillac with dark tinted windows. He made a routine vehicle stop, because the driver/owner had a suspended driver’s license. Upon further investigation, deputies later determined that the subject … was in possession of Oxycontin, Oxycodone and Hydrocodone. He was arrested without incident. The street value of the opiates is $6,100.”

Hancock has served as a member of the city’s Opioid Abuse Epidemic Commission since its formation in the summer of 2019 on an appointment set to last through 2021. A website indicates that Connecticut native Hancock has a “gospel TV network” and has worked with a number of well known gospel artists from across the country. While The Rant has been told that Hancock voluntarily offered his resignation Tuesday and it was accepted, Hancock also apparently maintains his innocence on the listed charges.