By Associated Press - Friday, April 22, 2016

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A former state correctional officer has been sentenced to four years in prison for using his position to extort money and items from prisoners.

The News & Observer of Raleigh (https://bit.ly/1NnCZD1 ) reports that 30-year-old Jason Dean was sentenced Thursday after having been charged in August with extortion as part of a wide-ranging investigation into the kidnapping of a prosecutor’s father that authorities say was directed by an inmate with an illegal cell phone.

Prosecutors said Dean moved contraband through the maximum security Polk Correctional Institution in Butner and took money and a piece of jewelry from inmates. He was not involved in the 2014 kidnapping of Frank Janssen, the father of Wake County prosecutor Colleen Janssen.

After he serves his prison sentence, Dean will be on probation for three years.

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Information from: The News & Observer, https://www.newsobserver.com

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