Correctional officer gets 5 years for plan to smuggle drugs, nude photos
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- Former officer sentenced to 5 years for smuggling drugs into NC prison.
- Agents seized meth, mushrooms, cocaine and contraband from McKinzie’s home.
- Officials cited public safety risks and vowed strict action against offenders.
A former correctional officer in Wayne County will serve five years in federal prison for his plan to smuggle more than 50 grams of methamphetamine behind bars, a conspiracy that included supplying nude photographs and other contraband, the US attorney’s office announced Wednesday.
In 2023, federal agents received a tip that Dawan Dontra McKinzie, a 31-year-old officer at Neuse Correctional Institution, was bringing contraband into the state prison, court officials said.
Agents confronted McKinzie at his home in Kenansville, where he told them that an inmate’s wife had recently sent him a package. Inside, court officials said, they found 53 grams of meth, 30 grams of psylocibin mushrooms, 2 grams of cocaine, 7 pounds of tobacco, suboxone, a cellphone and nude photographs.
McKinzie pleaded guilty to drug possession and conspiracy to distribute charges in May.
“This case is a reminder that when those entrusted with public safety break the law, the damage runs deep — inside our prisons and throughout our communities,” Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel Bubar said in a news release. “We are committed to working with our law enforcement partners to hold accountable anyone who undermines that trust, especially when it involves trafficking dangerous drugs into a correctional facility.”
McKinzie’s indictment states the officer had a “tacit understanding with other persons known and unknown” to distribute the drugs and other forbidden items. Sometime between July and October of 2023, the release said, he began smuggling the items inside, concealed on his person.
“Illicit drugs and contraband endanger the health, safety and security of our employees, those in our custody and the public at large,” said Leslie Dismukes, secretary of the NC Department of Adult Correction. “We will not hesitate to investigate and take action against anyone — including a compromised staff member — that brings illicit drugs or contraband into our facilities.”