A former correctional officer with the Anamosa Penitentiary was sentenced to serve almost a year-and-a-half in prison for being an unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm.
While 29-year-old Ethan Darrow was employed at the penitentiary, he would occasionally be assigned to tower guard duty, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Kevin W. Techau. When Darrow was on tower guard duty, he would be issued a semi-automatic assault rifle.
The Anamosa, Iowa man was employed as a correctional officer at the penitentiary between 2012 and 2015, and in 2014 he worked tower guard duty more than 50 times. According to Techau’s statement, Darrow admitted that during that year, he would regularly use marijuana and cocaine.
Darrow pleaded guilty to the charge and on Tuesday, December 29, he was sentenced to serve 17 months in prison and has to be on three years of supervised release when he gets out, the statement said. He also had to pay a $5,000 fine and a $100 special assessment.
The federal prison system does not have parole.