Smuggling

in Montgomery County Court to 6-to-12-months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of possession with intent to deliver designer drugs in connection with an October 2016 incident at the former prison located in Skippack Township.

Judge Wendy G. Rothstein ordered Groover to report to the county jail in Lower Providence on Nov. 14 to begin serving the sentence. Groover is eligible for the jail’s work release program during his incarceration, the judge said.

Groover also must complete two years’ probation following parole, meaning he will be under court supervision for three years. The punishment was within recommended state sentencing guidelines for the crime.

Assistant District Attorney Robert Kolansky sought jail time against Groover, citing the position of authority Groover was in while working at the state prison.

“This is a serious offense. The defendant was a correctional officer and he abused his position of power by bringing drugs into the population that he was supposed to oversee, to protect and to monitor,” Kolansky said.

“Many people are addicted to drugs and that drug addiction has led them to commit some of the crimes that have put them in the jail. For a correctional officer to put drugs back into the very population of that jail when they’re in there seeking rehabilitation, we believe that to be a real abuse of power,” Kolansky added.

Court documents do not indicate how long Groover had worked at the institution.

An investigation of Groover began on Oct. 27, 2016, when he reported for work at the Graterford institution, which was recently replaced by the State Correctional Institution at Phoenix in Skippack.

“When reporting for duty, Groover failed to clear the metal detector eight times at the front gate of the institution. During his last attempt, Groover was on video, walking through the metal detector with red lights activating, which represented he did not successfully pass. Groover proceeded to retrieve his belongings from the table and entered the secure facility,” Jeffrey A. Theobald, a criminal investigator for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections alleged in a criminal complaint.

A closed circuit television officer monitored Groover as he entered the facility and proceeded to enter the staff dining hall and then a bathroom, according to court documents. After Groover exited the bathroom, another correctional officer searched the bathroom and located 189.2 grams of suspected synthetic marijuana and 39 packages of the prescription drug Suboxone in a trash receptacle.

When authorities confronted Groover he admitted to placing the drugs in the dining hall bathroom “in order for an inmate to retrieve the narcotics,” according to the criminal complaint.

Groover allegedly went on to explain that he would meet a man named “Troy” in Philadelphia for the narcotics and for payment of the delivered narcotics.

“Groover also admitted that he brought narcotics into SCI Graterford on at least four other occasions,” Theobald alleged, adding a review of Groover’s cellphone message data revealed he was in contact with five civilian associates of inmates who were incarcerated at Graterford at the time.

Court documents indicate authorities also searched Groover’s vehicle and found alleged drug packaging materials and an additional 572.6 grams of suspected synthetic marijuana. Groover subsequently admitted ownership of everything found in his vehicle, according to the arrest affidavit.