Cocaine possession nets 10-year term for Arizona man

FORT SMITH — A Tucson, Ariz., man was sentenced Thursday on one count of possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.

Scott Carl Mangum, 40, received 10 years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release during his sentencing hearing in the U.S. District Court in Fort Smith Thursday, according to the office of David Clay Fowlkes, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III presided over the hearing.

Arkansas State Police Trooper Christopher Short conducted a traffic stop on a tractor trailer traveling on I-40 in Crawford County on Oct. 27, according to Mangum’s plea agreement. Short made contact with the driver and sole occupant, Mangum, who consented to a search of the vehicle.

Officers found a 9mm handgun and a meth pipe in the cab of the tractor trailer, in addition to a small baggie of methamphetamine in Mangum’s pocket. In the trailer, officers found about 15 kilograms of suspected cocaine concealed with the produce that Mangum was transporting.

The suspected cocaine was submitted to the Drug Enforcement Administration lab for testing, with it testing positive as cocaine with a total weight of 15.04 kilograms.

Mangum was indicted on his charge Nov. 20, according to court records. He entered a guilty plea to it during a change of plea hearing on Dec. 19.

In addition to Arkansas State Police, this case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to a news release from Fowlkes. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Elser prosecuted the case for the Western District of Arkansas.