HENDERSON â Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame says the three deputies facing criminal charges that accuse them of conspiring to mount an end run around North Carolinaâs asset-forfeiture laws are suspended pending the resolution of their charges. But the sheriff also said that while an internal investigation found âviolation of office policy and [a] lack of training,â he also believes that âprotocol was followedâ and âat this time, I do not have any evidence that would warrant the charges brought against them.â Brameâs comments, issued via an emailed written statement, responded to the booking the day before of his second-in-command, Maj. Steve Staton, and narcotics deputies Mitch Pittman and Purav Patel.