A staffer for Republican Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi was charged Thursday with possession of methamphetamine, and officials said he intended to distribute the drugs in exchange for sexual favors.
Fred Pagan, who serves the congressman from Mississippi as personal assistant and office administrator, was arrested after agents from Homeland Security Investigations and police executed a search warrant at his Washington, D.C., home.
Authorities searched the home after they customs agents intercepted a package containing over 1 kilogram of a substance that tested positive for the drug GBL at a Cincinnati shipper that was addressed to Pagan. Investigators said they found about 181 grams — about 6 ounces — of a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine at Pagan’s home.
Pagan allegedly admitted to investigators that “he intended to distribute both the GBL and methamphetamine in exchange for sexual favors," according to court documents. he was charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.
According to Legistorm, Pagan, who is 49, made $157,572 last year working for Cochran. A 2006 article in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal says Pagan was first accepted as a page for Cochran when he was 16 years old.
"Senator Cochran is disturbed and deeply saddened by the arrest of his long-time aide Fred Pagan, and is suspending him of all duties pending the outcome of this case," a statement from Cochran's office released on Friday said.