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The Pasco civil deputy was charged in Miami with trafficking and possession of cocaine.
By RYAN DAVIS
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 21, 2001
A 16-year employee of the Pasco County Sheriff's Office was arrested Saturday in Miami after she paid two undercover police officers $26,000 for a kilogram of cocaine, a sheriff's spokesman said.
Gloria J. Mays, 55, a civil deputy responsible for serving summonses, subpoenas and other notices, was charged with trafficking cocaine and cocaine possession, Miami police and Pasco spokesman Kevin Doll said.
Mays, who was hired in 1985 as a school crossing guard, has been placed on administrative leave without pay until a sheriff's investigation is complete, Doll said. The Lacoochee woman earns about $35,500 a year.
Mays does not carry a badge or gun and does not have access to sensitive information, he said.
"Anything she deals with, I believe, is public record," Doll said.
Two other people, believed also to be from Pasco County, were arrested with Mays, but no information about them was available Saturday, except that they are not Sheriff's Office employees, Doll said.
Mays was described as the primary buyer.
The three suspects rented a vehicle in Pasco County and made the trip to Miami for the drug deal, Doll said. They intended to return with the cocaine.
Vice detectives from Pasco were on the scene, 2200 NW 36th St. in Miami, to assist Miami police with the arrests.
Doll declined to comment about any part of the investigation, including how deputies became suspicious of Mays or how long they have been monitoring her.
Mays was held Saturday in lieu of $30,000 bail at the Women's Detention Center in Miami, Miami police said.
The other two suspects also were held Saturday in Miami-Dade jail, Doll said.
Mays is at least the second employee in the civil process department to be arrested in the past two years.
In March 1999, Dana Brady, a civil clerk, was charged with using her job to steal $350,000 from the Sheriff's Office.
Brady agreed to a plea bargain in December 1999 that gave her 20 years' probation.