Former Lackawanna County Prison Contract Employee Sentenced To One Year In Prison For Providing Drugs And Contraband To Inmates

SCRANTON—The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Brenda Cruise, age 50, of Dunmore, Pennsylvania, a former contract employee with the Lackawanna County Prison, was sentenced today to one year in federal prison by U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion, for participating in a conspiracy to provide prohibited objects, including illegal drugs, to inmates at the Lackawanna County Prison.

According to Acting United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Cruise previously pled guilty to conspiracy to provide contraband to inmates in prison. Cruise admitted that during 2018, while working at the prison, she provided suboxone, marijuana, synthetic marijuana, and tobacco to inmates on several occasions and received payments totaling $1,100 for helping to smuggle the drugs and tobacco into the prison.

Judge Mannion also ordered Cruise to serve two years on supervised release following her     prison sentence.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa prosecuted the case.          

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