Brandi Wicker and Xavier Johnson. Source: Sanford PD

By Gordon Anderson | gordon@rantnc.com

Sanford police on Tuesday charged two people – one a former Southern Lee High School employee and the other a former Lee County sheriff’s deputy – on charges stemming from the embezzlement of nearly $30,000 from the school.

Police charged both Brandi Wicker, 44, of Phil Johnson Road in Sanford, and Xavier Johnson, 29, of Spring Lake in connection with the embezzlement from Southern Lee, which the district reported to authorities in May.

Wicker faces a felony count of embezzlement and Johnson is charged with a felony count of receiving stolen goods. According to warrants on file at the Lee County Courthouse, Wicker is believed to have taken cash and made fraudulent Amazon purchases while employed at the school. The warrant against Johnson alleges he received $5,780 in cash, which the warrant says was “the personal property of Southern Lee High School.” The warrant doesn’t say from whom he received the money.

The warrants list the date of offense for Wicker as November 7, 2024 and January 1, 2025 for Johnson.

Johnson was employed by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office as a school resource officer when the school reported the money missing on May 18. According to Lee County Government, that was the last day Johnson worked for the sheriff’s office.

The embezzlement was the second reported by Lee County Schools since early 2025. A former district Central Office employee pleaded guilty in early August to taking more than more than $190,000 in district funds. At the time of her arrest, state Auditor Dave Boliek’s office announced it would conduct “an investigative audit.”

The Rant emailed Boliek’s office on August 3 to see if the audit was still active, whether any findings or recommendations had been issued, and whether the Southern Lee case – which is not believed to be related to the earlier incident – had impacted the scope of the investigation. That email has not been answered.