Jail guard charged with selling pot, hamburgers to inmates

TAMPA -- A corrections officer at the Orient Road Jail is facing criminal charges after jail authorities discovered a bag with 3.9 grams of marijuana stashed in his work boots on Thursday.

The bust marked the end of a monthlong investigation of 28-year-old Anthony S. McKenzie, who told jail officials he had smuggled various items, including tobacco, alcohol, hamburgers and chicken into the jail, then sold the contraband to inmates.

The inmates arranged payments with the guard through an outside source, Hillsborough County Sheriff's detectives said.

McKenzie, a jailhouse staffer for more than two years, was suspended without pay.

--By Casey Cora, Times Staff Writer