From the Associated Press

SACRAMENTO — A former state prison guard pleaded guilty Friday to smuggling methamphetamine into a prison in Amador County and delivering it to inmates, Sacramento County prosecutors said.

John Charles Whittle, 47, a 22-year veteran of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, admitted taking methamphetamine to an inmate at Mule Creek State Prison.

Internal affairs investigators said they intercepted a package mailed to Whittle’s home in the Sacramento suburb of Citrus Heights on Aug. 17. They tested it for drugs and raided his home after Whittle accepted delivery.

Agents found that Whittle had cut open a stuffed teddy bear that was in the package, removed nearly 10 grams of methamphetamine and hidden it in the stab-resistant vest issued to prison guards. He intended to smuggle the package into the prison, the district attorney’s office said in a statement.

Whittle admitted that associates of the inmates outside the prison paid him $5,150 for smuggling the drugs, prosecutors said. He forfeited the money as part of a plea deal and faces up to two years in prison when he is sentenced April 19.

Whittle has since resigned from the department.