A former Rimutaka Prison manager has admitted his involvement in a conspiracy to deal in cannabis.
Jeffrey Reid, 45, managed a high-security unit at the prison and was due to go to trial in the Wellington District Court on Monday, but instead entered guilty pleas to two of the three charges he faced.
Reid was arrested in 2009, following a month-long investigation into allegations that drugs were being dealt in the Upper Hutt prison.
He pleaded guilty to being part of a conspiracy to deal cannabis and a second charge of cultivating cannabis.
Judge Peter Butler discharged Reid on a third charge of selling cannabis, for which the Crown offered no evidence.
Reid was remanded on bail to appear for sentence on 24 June. The court has asked for reports assessing his suitability for a community-based sentence, such as home detention.
One of Reid's co-conspirators was jailed for 17 months, while the other was sentenced to eight months' home detention.
Monitoring system praised
The Corrections Department says Reid's guilty plea on drugs charges proves its monitoring systems are doing their job.
A spokesperson for the Prison Service, Brendan Anstiss, on Monday thanked the department's professional standards unit and police for their work to apprehend Reid.
Dr Anstiss says the guilty plea shows that Corrections' monitoring systems are working well and sends a strong message that criminal behaviour will not be tolerated.
