Pubdate: Thu, 12 Oct 2000
Source: Bakersfield Californian (CA)
Copyright: 2000, The Bakersfield Californian.
Contact:  PO Box 440, Bakersfield, CA 93302-0440
Website: http://www.bakersfield.com/
Author: Davin McHenry, Californian staff writer, PRISON TEACHER ACCUSED OF DRUG SMUGGLING

A Kern County Fire Department captain who also works as a substitute 
teacher at Wasco State Prison was arrested last week after prison 
investigators allegedly caught him smuggling heroin into the Kern County 
institution.

Tim Handel, 55, was arrested Friday by investigators from the prison and 
the California Department of Corrections Office of Internal Affairs as he 
picked up a package - allegedly full of narcotics - at a Bakersfield 
mailing business. The bust was the culmination of a three-month 
investigation, during which prison officials said they discovered that 
Handel was hiding drugs inside pens and bringing them inside the prison.

Prison investigators said they nabbed Handel Friday evening after he picked 
up a delivery of an unknown amount of drugs. He was booked into Kern County 
Jail on counts of possession of drugs and trafficking drugs, according to 
prison spokesman John Katavich.

Handel's attorney, James Noriega, denied the allegations Wednesday, saying 
his client had been "used" as a courier for the drugs without his 
knowledge. Noriega said his client was asked to bring the pens - a handful 
per month - into the prison as a favor and had no idea what was inside them.

"He was basically conned by a con," Noriega said. "He tested them, they 
wrote like (felt pens) and he thought it was no big deal."

According to prison officials, Handel would leave the drug-filled pens in 
the hands of his inmate students, who would remove and distribute the 
heroin. Six inmates are believed to have taken part in the scheme and all 
have been moved into an administrative segregation unit inside the prison.

Handel has worked for the prison off and on since July 1996, teaching 
academic and vocational classes from time to time, Katavich said.

"He would work anywhere from one day a week to a month straight depending 
on what was needed," Katavich said.

While not teaching at the prison, Handel is also an acting captain with the 
Kern County Fire Department and is usually assigned to the Stallion Springs 
station. He remained on administrative leave from the fire department 
Wednesday, pending the outcome of his criminal case, Fire Chief Dan Clark said.

Handel has worked for the county department for the past 15 years and 
currently serves as an engineer with the department's hazardous materials team.
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