Inmate Sentenced in Montana Prison Drug-Smuggling Scheme

An inmate has been sentenced to more than 7 and a half years of additional prison time for his role in a drug-smuggling scheme in the Montana State Prison.

U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen on Wednesday sentenced Ian Scott Barclay to 92 months for conspiring to smuggle drugs into the Deer Lodge prison and bribing a prison worker.

The sentence is the longest to date in the scheme that involved five people. The prison laundry worker, Erin Bernhardt, was previously sentenced to 14 months. Cordero Metzker was sentenced to three years for arranging to have two women in Tennessee mail the drugs to Bernhardt.

The two Tennessee women have made plea agreements with prosecutors, but have not been sentenced.

Prosecutors say the five conspired to sell methamphetamine and the drug Suboxone last year to other inmates in the prison.