Corrections officer arrested for selling cocaine
4:18 p.m.
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By Alan J. Keays Herald Staff - Published: April 27, 2007
A state corrections officer in Rutland has been jailed on $250,000 bail for allegedly selling cocaine to people she oversees in the community as part of her job.
Sheri Fitzgerald, 43, of Proctor was arrested Thursday afternoon by Rutland City Police after she allegedly sold cocaine to a confidential informant behind the Proctor Library.
"She is accused of betrayal, not just of the citizens of the state of Vermont, she is also is accused of betrayal of the 1,200 employees that quietly, efficiently, and deliberately do their job every day," Rob Hofmann, state corrections commission, said Friday of Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald has been an employee with the state Department of Corrections since 1989.
"She's been a community corrections officer. It's a staff member that oversees offenders in the community, often on different shifts, including the evening," Hofmann said Fitzgerald, adding that many of the inmates Fitzgerald supervises are on furlough.
The commissioner added that Fitzgerald remains an employee of the state Department of Corrections.
"We're in a unionized environment and there are certain steps we need to take to follow with personnel issues," Hofmann said. "I can guarantee you this has our full attention and we are taking this allegations tremendously seriously."
Fitzgerald pleaded innocent Friday afternoon in Rutland District Court to three felony charges, including selling and possession of cocaine and distributing a narcotic as well as a misdemeanor count of illegal possession of a narcotic.
She was ordered jailed for lack $250,000 bail.
If convicted of all the offenses, Fitzgerald faces up to 19 years in prison.
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