NORTH CAROLINA
U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III sentenced Jason Dean to four years and three months in prison after the former prison guard admitted stealing an inmate’s gold plate used to cover teeth from an inmate, according to officials.
The 30-year-old Dean, of Henderson, North Carolina, was also given three years of supervised release, officials said.
Dean was named in a four-count Indictment filed on August 19, 2015, and he pled guilty to using his position as a correctional officer at Polk Correctional Institution to extort things of value.
In July 2014, the FBI in Raleigh initiated an investigation related to the smuggling of contraband into Polk in Butner, by correctional officers. Dean used his position to obtain property and money from at least three inmates at Polk, according to authorities.
On February 9, 2015, officials said Dean seized the custom made gold grill from an inmate as contraband.
Dean failed to turn the contraband over to his superiors or file the appropriate forms documenting the seizure. Instead, Dean secreted the gold grill from the institution. On February 18, 2015, Dean pawned the grill for $35.
Further investigation revealed that Dean also provided several inmates with pieces of paper containing his name, address, and phone number in order to facilitate monetary wire transfers.
Specifically, Dean promised to supply the inmates with contraband cigarettes if the inmates wired him money through Western Union. One inmate wired Dean $175 in February 2015; however, Dean failed to provide the cigarettes as promised. In March 2015, Dean resigned from his position at Polk.