A state probation officer has been charged with trying to illegally sell more than 100 prescription painkillers during an undercover sting.
James David Franklin, 44, was arrested in Burke County, about 200 miles west of Raleigh, on July 8 and charged with felony drug trafficking in opiates, according to court records. He is accused of trying to sell more than 100 hydrocodone pills.
Franklin, who lives in Lenoir, is a probation and parole surveillance officer assigned to neighboring Caldwell County.
He has worked for the state since 1993 and earns an annual salary of $33,215.
Keith Acree, a spokesman for the state Department of Correction, said that Franklin was assigned to desk duty June 3 and that he has been on "personal leave" since June 30.
According to an arrest warrant, Franklin tried to sell hydrocodone, an opiate sold under the brand name Vicodin, to a special agent with the State Bureau of Investigation.
Noelle Talley, a spokeswoman for N.C. Department of Justice, said the SBI investigation was initiated after the Correction Department received a tip that Franklin had been buying drugs.
Prior to his arrest on the felony drug charge, Franklin's record shows no run-ins with the law since 2000, when he pleaded guilty to using a spotlight to hunt deer at night, a misdemeanor.
Franklin remained in the Burke County jail Monday, with bail set at $100,000. He is scheduled to appear in court Friday.
