Corrections Officer Sentenced In Drug-Smuggling Case

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- A Maryland Correctional Training Center officer has been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty in a drug-smuggling case.

The Herald-Mail of Hagerstown (http://bit.ly/1S4AwwK ) reports Circuit Judge Daniel P. Dwyer sentenced 52-year old Patrick Kyle Merson Tuesday to 10 years in prison, with all but four years suspended.

According to court records, Merson pleaded guilty to charges including possession of Oxycontin with intent to deliver to a place of confinement.

Defense attorney Ira C. Cooke told the court his client had been prescribed 240 Oxycontin painkiller tablets by two doctors within a two-and-half-week period. Cooke says the doctors who prescribed the drugs that addicted his client should also be investigated.

Cooke says Merson's addiction was the reason he did what he did.

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