Erik Thompson Sentenced to 97 Months
BOISE - Former Idaho Department of Correction (“IDOC”)
correctional officer Erik Thompson was sentenced yesterday for firearms
offenses he committed as part of an FBI sting operation that uncovered
corruption by IDOC correctional officers, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill sentenced
Erik Thompson, 39, to 97 months in prison.
Thompson will be placed on supervised release for three years after
release from prison.
The FBI initiated the sting operation in this case at IDOC’s
request to weed out corruption among IDOC correctional officers. The FBI was able to locate corrupt prison
guards by using undercover agents who invited the guards to commit crimes
outside of IDOC’s facilities. The
defendants believed that the undercover agents they were assisting were large‑scale
drug traffickers. The guards provided
security and completed other tasks for the undercover agents during staged
deliveries of drug loads and drug money.
Thompson and co‑defendant Richard McCollough carried firearms with them
during the staged drug operations. No
drugs were in the sole possession of the defendants, and no drugs or other
contraband were brought into any IDOC facility as part of these operations.
Thompson pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a firearm
in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Co-defendant McCollough also pleaded guilty to two counts of possession
of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. McCollough also was sentenced to 97 months in
prison by Judge Winmill.
Co-defendants Timothy Landon and Robert Wallin each pleaded
guilty to one count of conspiracy to aid and abet drug trafficking. Landon was sentenced to 41 months in
prison. Wallin was sentenced to 37
months in prison. All defendants will be
placed on supervised release for three years after release from prison.
In addition to the FBI, the Boise Police Department, the
Meridian Police Department, IDOC’s Special Investigations Unit, and the Ada
County Prosecutor’s Office participated in this investigation.
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