DRUG STING NETS CORRECTIONS OFFICER

A Zephyrhills Prison Worker Is Charged With Intent to Deliver Marijuana
into the Facility

ZEPHYRHILLS - A state corrections officer was arrested on drug charges
after he accepted 4 ounces of marijuana from an undercover Pasco County
sheriff's deputy with the intent to deliver it inside the prison,
authorities say.

James Orick, 28, of Lakeland, a corrections officer at the Zephyrhills
Correctional Institution, also was charged with child neglect after he
brought a 2-year-old girl along for the drug transaction, according to a
sheriff's report.

His other charges include possession of marijuana with intent to deliver
and introduction of a controlled substance into a jail, the report said.

Orick remained at the Land O'Lakes jail Friday in lieu of $15,000 bail.

Sheriff's deputies arrested him Thursday following an undercover drug deal
in which a deputy handed over the 4 ounces of marijuana to Orick to deliver
to the Zephyrhills state prison, the report said. The undercover deputy
also paid him $500 to make the delivery.

The value of the marijuana quantity is about $250 on the street but
probably 10 times as much in prison, said sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll.

Orick has been an employee for the Department of Corrections since July 15,
1999, when he started as a corrections officer at the Polk Correctional
Institution, said corrections spokesman Sterling Ivey.

He transferred to the Zephyrhills facility in the same position on Feb. 5,
Ivey said. Orick's salary is $1,094 a week. The Department of Corrections
will begin a parallel investigation of Orick and determine what to do with
his job, Ivey said.