Prison worker arrested in drug sting

ZEPHYRHILLS -- A kitchen worker at Zephyrhills Correctional Institution was trying to serve up something stronger than garden-variety herbs this week when he was arrested in a marijuana sting, according to Pasco County authorities.

An undercover Pasco County Sheriff's Office deputy arrested Norman Washington Mangol, 38, of Phillips Street, Tampa, about 8:45 p.m. Tuesday after handing more than 9 ounces of marijuana to him with the understanding he would smuggle it into the prison, according to arrest reports.

Prison spokesman Sterling Ivey on Wednesday said Mangol was employed by Aramark, a private company hired to run the prison kitchen. Arrest reports list Mangol as a supervisor.

Ivey said Mangol was not a state employee and was immediately barred from the prison. The Department of Corrections Inspector General's office continued investigating the case Wednesday, Ivey said.

Sheriff's Office spokesman Jon Powers said deputies were alerted to Mangol's interest in smuggling by a Department of Corrections employee. Using that information, and some marijuana the Sheriff's Office had seized in earlier arrests, deputies set up the deal at a supermarket parking lot in Zephyrhills.

Powers said the marijuana had an estimated value of about $4,000 inside prison walls.

Zephyrhills Correctional Institution has a capacity of 623 medium and minimum security inmates, both men and women.

Mangol was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, introduction of a controlled substance into a correctional facility and possession of a fake driver's license.

He remained Wednesday in the Pasco County jail in Land O'Lakes in lieu of $15,000 bail.

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