Former prison guard pleads guilty to delivering drugs, cellphone to inmate – Bismarck Tribune

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A former North Dakota State Penitentiary guard has pleaded guilty to accepting money for sneaking in drugs and a cellphone for an inmate.
Matthew Taylor, 39, of Mandan, will be sentenced later. He faces the possibility of 20 years in prison on a charge of delivering drugs at a correctional facility, the most serious of the two counts against him.
Charges were filed against Taylor after the North Dakota Highway Patrol initiated an investigation in November 2020. Taylor worked as a correctional officer at the penitentiary in Bismarck from March to November of that year, according to the Patrol’s affidavit. He was fired after the investigation, according to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Taylor at a Tuesday change-of-plea hearing admitted to delivering the cellphone to an inmate on one occasion and a cigarette package that contained methamphetamine on another. Investigators were able to corroborate wire transfers of money to Taylor near the dates of the deliveries, Assistant Burleigh County State’s Attorney Dennis Ingold said.
Defense attorney Thomas Glass asked South Central District Judge Douglas Bahr for a presentence investigation “to get a full picture of what’s been going on with Mr. Taylor and how he arrived at this point.”
Joshua Gomez, the inmate who received the goods, was sentenced to four years in prison to be served at the same time as his current sentence. Gomez pleaded guilty to a felony sex offense in 2006, spent nine years behind bars, and was sent back to prison in 2018 because of a probation violation, court records show. He’s to get out of prison in 2027.
Reach Travis Svihovec at 701-250-8260 or Travis.Svihovec@bismarcktribune.com

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A former guard accused of sneaking drugs and electronics to an inmate in exchange for money while working at the North Dakota State Penitentia…
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