CHARLOTTE — A Richmond County man working as a correctional officer at Lanesboro Correctional Institute has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly smuggling drugs to an inmate, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Federal prosecutors say 46-year-old Erice Lemond Blyther, of Hoffman, accepted a bribe between August and September of 2018 to smuggle in a controlled substance to an inmate housed at the facility
The press release does not specify what the controlled substance was.
The indictment, which was recently unsealed in court, was not available Friday.
“Inmates within the LCI were prohibited from possessing controlled substances and are permitted to use controlled substances only when prescribed by a medical professional and under the direct supervision of LCI staff,” reads the press release. “Correctional officers were also prohibited from accepting gifts from inmates, performing favors for inmates, or providing inmates with narcotic drugs or any other item forbidden by LCI rules.”
The case was investigated by the FBI and Blyther was arrested Tuesday.
He made his first appearance in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge David S. Cayer on Wednesday.
Blyther is charged with:
- use of interstate facility to facilitate bribery, which carries a maximum prison term of five years and a $250,000 fine;
- extortion under color of official right, which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years and a $250,000 fine; and
- possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, which carries a maximum prison term of 10 years and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana Washington, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, is in charge of the prosecution.
Lanesboro, which has since been renamed Anson Correctional Institute, housed medium and close-security inmates and was one of the state’s largest prisons, according to prosecutors.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
