Suspended US immigration chief in Miami arrested

MIAMI: The suspended chief of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Miami was arrested on Tuesday, jail records show, on what local media reported were Internet child pornography charges.

Public records from the Broward County jail listed the arrest of Anthony Mangione, 50, but did not give the charges involved.

The mug shot released by the Broward Sheriff's Office showed the same Anthony Mangione who from 2007 and until April had been special agent in charge of the ICE field office in Miami, which covers Florida and Puerto Rico.

ICE spokespersons in Miami and Washington and the FBI in Miami referred queries to the Department of Justice. Justice spokeswoman Laura Sweeney declined to comment.

Fighting child pornography was one of the tasks of the Miami ICE office.

The Miami Herald, citing sources familiar with the investigation, said Mangione has been on paid administrative leave since April after federal agents began investigating images of child pornography he allegedly received on his home computer. They had seized his home computer, the newspaper said.

Mangione, a 27-year veteran of ICE, will appear in federal court in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday, the Herald added.

Copyright Reuters, 2011