RALEIGH– The United States Attorney’s Office announced that today in federal court, Chief United States District Judge James C. Dever III sentenced JASON DEAN, 30, of Henderson to 51 months imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised release.
DEAN was named in a four-count Indictment filed on August 19, 2015, and he pled guilty to Count 2 relating to his use of his position as a correctional officer at Polk Correctional Institution (Polk) to extort things of value.
In July 2014, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (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.
On February 9, 2015, DEAN seized a custom made gold grill (a gold plate shaped in the form of teeth designed to fit over an individual’s natural teeth) 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.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Dennis M. Duffy and Leslie K. Cooley prosecuted the case for the government.