CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Prosecutors say a North Carolina corrections officer has been charged with smuggling a narcotic substance into a state prison for an inmate who bribed him.
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A statement Wednesday from the Charlotte-based U.S. Attorney's office said 46-year-old Erice Lemond Blyther of Hoffman accepted a bribe from a prisoner to bring a controlled substance into Lanesboro Correctional Institution in Polkton in 2018. Court documents say the substance included the opioid buprenorphine.
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Prosecutors say his duties included supervising inmates at what has since been renamed Anson Correctional Institution. Prosecutors also say he's charged with using an interstate facility to facilitate bribery, extortion under color of official right and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
An attorney for Blyther didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday.