By Debbie Wachter
New Castle News
BUTLER, Pa. — A corrections officer has been suspended without pay after his arrest for allegedly selling drugs in the Lawrence County jail.
Douglas Mangino, 30, of 513 Friendship St. was committed on Nov. 23 to the Butler County jail, where he was stricken with an illness after his incarceration. He was taken from there to Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, and he remained hospitalized there Monday. His preliminary hearing, scheduled for Tuesday, has been continued to a later date.
Meanwhile, District Judge Scott McGrath initially had set Mangino’s jail bond for $20,000 but when he developed health issues at the Butler County facility, he was released on his own recognizance and transported to Pittsburgh, according to court records. Mangino was being incarcerated in Butler County because of his work affiliation at the Lawrence County jail.
New Castle police have charged Mangino with multiple drug-related offenses after inmates reported having purchased Subutex, also known as buprenorphine, from him inside the jail. The drug is typically used in a plan to help prevent withdrawal symptoms of someone who has stopped taking narcotics.
A deputy warden reported to police that the jail had conducted drug testing and one inmate who tested positive for Suboxone said he had bought it from another inmate. That inmate had purchased the Subutex from Mangino, according to court records.
Another corrections officer at the jail had told the deputy warden that he saw Mangino hand that inmate a “real thick” folded up piece of paper Nov. 18. Video surveillance showed Mangino walking down the hallway of a jail housing unit with his right hand in his pocket. He then stepped to the side to allow the other officer and an inmate to pass him, when he was seen pulling his hand out of his pocket and handing the inmate something, police reported.
A jail incident report documented Nov. 22, that was generated by a jail captain, shows that Mangino was the officer for certain housing units and should not have been escorting inmates from the yard to their housing unit, especially when the yard time was not over. Only the one inmate was escorted back to the unit and the others remained in the yard, the report states. It also indicates that Mangino had been going to another housing unit requesting on numerous occasions to speak with the inmate who had tested positive for the drugs.
Mangino is charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, possession of contraband/controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
He was arraigned by District Judge Scott McGrath, who initially set his jail bond at $20,000.
His work suspension is in place pending a vote by the Lawrence County Prison Board, which meets again at noon, Dec. 16. A Loudermill hearing also is to be scheduled for further determination of his employment status.
Copyright 2015 New Castle News