Public defender arrested for drug deal

MIAMI, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Authorities in Florida said a Miami-Dade County assistant public defender was arrested after allegedly selling Oxycodone tablets to an undercover officer.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said Joseph Imperato, 53, a lawyer in the Miami-Dade County public defender's office, was accused of selling a total 45 tablets of the powerful painkiller to the undercover police detective on two occasions this month, The Miami Herald reported Tuesday.

Investigators allege Imperato took a total $700 from the detective for the pills.

Imperato was released Monday on $25,000 bond. Officials said he may be suspended by the public defender's office, where he has worked for 28 years, until the completion of the federal investigation.