Delaware's former deputy treasurer Erika Benner facing drug charges in New England

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A once high-ranking Delaware official at the center of former state treasurer Chip Flowers' retreat from local politics is facing drug charges in Massachusetts, along with her two sons.

Erika Benner, who served as the deputy state treasurer until losing her job in 2013, is accused of receiving 140 pills of the prescription tranquilizer Xanax from her 16-year-old son last month.

The drug exchange was witnessed by police in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and led to a search of her parents' home, where both her sons reside, according to court records.

That search uncovered hundreds of Xanax pills, THC oil and other drugs used as to make the psychoactive methamphetamine MDMA, along with guns and other evidence of what police describe as "a lucrative joint drug enterprise" run by Benner's children, court documents show.

When police informed Benner that her sons were selling narcotics, she responded, "I know, but one of them has ADHD," police said.

The 45-year-old mother is charged with possession with intent to distribute a Class E drug, conspiracy to violate drug law and reckless endangerment to children, court records show.

Her juvenile son and her 20-year-old son Joseph was arrested on similar drug charges, while her 79-year-old father Raymond Maczuba was arrested on gun charges. 

The Eagle-Tribune newspaper reported last month that Benner was ordered to be held without bail pending her commitment to a 28-day drug detox program. Probation officials told the paper she had participated in a similar drug detox program and is currently on probation for a prior arrest.

Benner was charged with two counts of assault and battery on a police officer, along with assault and battery on a person 60 or older in July.

Messages left at Benner's home were not returned Friday. Her lawyer did not return messages.

Benner's lawyer told the court in February that his client collects $329 a month in public assistance along with "a small amount of food stamps," the Eagle-Tribune reported.

That's a far cry from the six-figure-a-year job Benner held in Delaware before resigning  after racking up $6,400 worth of personal charges on her state credit card for meals, gas and an extended hotel stay after a treasurer's conference in Alaska.

Those credit card charges also included limousine rides and tickets to a New England Patriots football game in October 2011 that she attended with Flowers.

Flowers, the first African American elected to statewide office, initially denied being at the game but later admitted to it. He has long maintained that he was misled by Benner and did not know his ticket or the car service were charged to a state-issued credit card until months later.

Former Gov. Jack Markell signed legislation on Valentine's Day of 2014 stripping Flowers of any authority to manage the state's $2 billion investment portfolio amid claims the treasurer had exerted inappropriate control.

After Benner filed claims that Flowers had harassed her and her sons, Flowers announced in August 2014 that he would finish out his term and drop out of his race for re-election. Less than a month later, he was cleared of those allegations by Dover police.

Flowers claimed he was the subject of a coordinated smear campaign initiated by his political foes.

The 43-year-old former state treasurer moved to Boston, where he now serves as deputy legal counsel for the Massachusetts Democratic Party and heads the law firm Flowers Counsel Group.

Last year, he won $22,500 in a settlement with the state that resolved a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

Although Benner now lives about 30 miles north of Boston, Flowers on Friday said he has not had any contact with his former deputy for years.

"I don't take any joy in this," he said. "I hope she gets the help she needs."

Contact reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.

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