Prison for corrections officer who smuggled drugs to inmate

A former corrections officer at a Philadelphia jail was sentenced yesterday to 30 months in prison for attempted extortion and attempted drug distribution.

Joseph Romano, 31, who had worked at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center and the Riverside Correctional Facility, pleaded guilty after he was caught in an FBI sting as he accepted $1,000 to deliver Oxycontin to a prisoner.

Five other corrections officers were also arrested for smuggling drugs or cell phones to inmates. They had worked at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility and the House of Correction.

Philadelphia Prisons Commissioner Louis Giorlahas said the officers chose to "pervert their authority for personal gain."

There is no indication the officers were working together, authorities said.

William Bender