S. Fla. ICE Chief Pleads Not Guilty On Child Porn Charges
WEST PALM BEACH (CBS4) – The head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in South Florida pleaded not guilty Wednesday to three kiddie porn charges at his arraignment in federal court in West Palm Beach.
Anthony Mangione, 50, was indicted on three counts of Transportation, Receipt and Possession of Child Porn.
At Wednesday morning's arraignment, Mangione appeared in court wearing a grey jump suit with the words "federal prison" on the back. In addition to making his not guilty plea, Mangione was also ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Mangione was taken into custody Tuesday by FBI agents and BSO detectives for allegedly having child pornography on his home computer.
According to the indictment, between March and September 2010, Mangione allegedly transported and received visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The indictment also alleges that Mangione possessed electronically stored messages that contained additional images of child pornography during the same time period.
The next court date was set for October 17th.
Last April, Mangione was placed on administrative leave after federal investigators searched his home and allegedly found four images of child pornography on his personal computer.
Mangione's computer was seized from his Parkland home after his internet service provider, AOL, alerted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that pornographic images involving children were sent to his email.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alerted a multi-agency task force which investigates child-porn on the Internet. The task force then contacted AOL which identified Mangione's account as the one that reportedly received the images.
Mangione took the reins of the South Florida regional ICE office in 2007. He has frequently spoken out against "predators" who share pornographic images of children over the internet.
Mangione has been on paid administrative leave during the investigation.
Mangione was reportedly planning on retiring this summer after having worked with customs for 27 years.
If convicted, Mangione faces a prison sentence that could range from 5 years to 30 years.
