Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister tapped to lead Trump's DEA

President-elect Donald Trump is tapping a second Hillsborough County law enforcement official for a position in his administration.

Trump announced Saturday on the social media site Truth Social that he's nominating Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister to be administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

“Sheriff Chad Chronister has served the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, and received countless commendations and awards for keeping his community SAFE," Trump wrote.

Chronister replied on the social media site X: “It is the honor of a lifetime to be nominated by President @realDonaldTrump to serve as the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and I am deeply humbled by this opportunity to serve our nation.”

Chronister, 56, has previously worked closely with Trump's choice for U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi, a Tampa native, former Florida attorney general and Hillsborough prosecutor.

However, unlike Bondi, he would come in as a relative unknown in Washington, D.C., circles.

If confirmed by the Senate, he would replace outgoing DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. The DEA, part of the Justice Department, is responsible for enforcing federal drug laws, with about 10,000 employees and a budget of $3.2 billion.

That would include cracking down on the ongoing fentanyl crisis, a major target of Trump's campaign. Trump has promised to rein in Mexican drug cartels and fentanyl traffickers.

“The appointment of Chad Chronister to lead the women and men of DEA will be transformative,” Mike Furgason, assistant special agent in charge of the DEA's Tampa office, wrote on LinkedIn.

Chronister, a Republican, has implemented some progressive policies, including a program that offers first-time offenders convicted of nonviolent crimes the chance to avoid arrests on their records and another to train inmates for jobs that require college-level classes.

He has also supported the country's decriminalizing the possession of up to 20 grams of marijuana, but did not publicly support or oppose a recent Florida ballot measure that would have legalized recreational use. The constitutional measure failed to gain the 60 percent of the vote needed to pass.

Interestingly, the DEA will hold a hearing Tuesday regarding the Biden administration's proposal to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to Schedule III substance.

Chronister has faced criticism after the arrest of a Tampa pastor who held two Sunday church services during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. At the time, the county was under a "safer at home" order.

Chronister also released 164 inmates from county jails during the pandemic under an emergency measure to prevent the spread of COVID.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, a Democrat and former Tampa police chief, wrote on X that Chronister's appointment is “much deserved" and an "excellent choice."

Chronister has been with the Hillsborough sheriff's office since 1992, advancing from patrol deputy to narcotics detective to commander of the office's homeland security division, rising to the rank of colonel.

He was appointed sheriff in 2017 by then-Gov. Rick Scott to succeed the retiring David Gee. Since then, he has been reelected three times — in 2018 and 2020, before running this year without opposition.

A native of York, Pennsylvania, Chronister has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s in criminology from Saint Leo University and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.

According to his sheriff's office online biography, Chronister is co-chair of the Regional Domestic Security Task Force for Region IV Tampa Bay, council member of the Florida Attorney General’s Statewide Council on Human Trafficking and former chair of the Criminal Justice Subcommittee, vice chair of the county's Public Safety Coordinating Council, and vice chair of the Hillsborough County Public Schools' Citizen Oversight Committee. He was also appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Florida Statewide Drug Policy Advisory Council.

Chronister has been married since 2010 to Nikki DeBartolo, daughter of former San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. They met while doing security work for her family. They have two children.

DeBartolo Jr. was pardoned in 2020 by Trump after he pleaded guilty in 1998 for failing to report a felony. Before the decision, Trump was lobbied by several former NFL players, including Jim Brown and Joe Montana.

DeBartolo Jr. received two years of probation and a $1 million fine in return for testifying against former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, who demanded $400,000 from DeBartolo Jr. for a riverboat casino license. DeBartolo Jr. was suspended by the NFL for a year before he turned control of the team over to his sister, Denise York.

WUSF's Rick Mayer contributed to this report.