A former Corrections Department community work supervisor in Tokoroa has been sent to jail for two years and nine months for falsely recording offenders' community work hours.
Chanel Scanlan, 38, pleaded guilty in February to 30 counts of perverting the course of justice and five counts of corruption.
Judge Phillip Cooper told the Rotorua District Court that in 2007 and 2008, Scanlan falsely credited 30 offenders for 2700 hours of community work they had not done.
Two of them had virtually all their allotted hours falsely credited, while for another 18, false records were made of more than half their hours.
Scanlan twice accepted bribes of cash and firewood and Judge Cooper said he had also accepted drugs.
In sentencing, the judge said Scanlan's offending was a gross breach of trust.
Defence lawyer Arama Ngapo-Lipscombe says Scanlan was overwhelmed with the demands of the job and accepts responsibility for his actions.
The Department of Corrections says the sentence will act as a significant deterrent for others.
