A former guard at a southwestern Pennsylvania prison has been sentenced to two to 23 months in the county jail in connection with smuggling marijuana, pornographic magazines and Muslim religious oils into the state lockup.
Thirty-five-year-old Donald Lynch, of Fort Loudon, was charged in April after his wife told investigators Lynch had boasted of making easy money by smuggling the items into State Correctional Institution-Somerset, according to the Tribune-Democrat.
He pleaded guilty in November to a charge of criminally using a cellphone as part of the scheme, and was sentenced Tuesday by a Somerset County judge.
Lynch smuggled some items inside tennis balls and hollow, plastic practice golf balls. Inmates paid Lynch with Visa gift cards or transfers into a PayPal account.
Lynch will also spend two years on probation. He lost his job at the state prison in Somerset shortly before he was charged.
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