A Massachusetts correctional officer has pleaded guilty to a federal drug conspiracy charge for agreeing to smuggle opioids to an inmate in MCI-Norfolk in exchange for cash.

William Holts, 51, would serve two years of probation including three months of house arrest and pay a $2,000 fine under a plea agreement with the office of U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling. The plea deal still requires the approval of a judge.

The federal investigation into Holts' extracurricular activities began in February 2018, when a captain from the Massachusetts Department of Corrections warned the FBI of an ongoing scheme to smuggle contraband into MCI-Norfolk, a medium security state prison.

"Intelligence gathered at that time revealed that MCI-Norfolk Corrections Officer William Holts has been smuggling contraband into MCINorfolk for the last six months," FBI Special Agent Lisa Crandall wrote in a court affidavit. "Holts is known to smuggle street clothes, to include gloves and shorts, microchips, and watches into MCI-Norfolk to provide to an inmate in his unit."

Holts' smuggling went beyond household items. An inmate working as a confidential informant told the DOC that Holts had asked another inmate about the going price for strips of the opioid suboxone, and had said that he was willing to smuggle in "anything except needles and heroin."

While in the outside world suboxone is typically prescribed to help addicts quit heroin, in prison it is valuable contraband, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. It is distributed in dissolvable strips that are easily concealed behind envelope seams and stamps.

Investigators found that Holts offered to smuggle more than 100 suboxone strips into the prison for $2,000 in cash, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

If Holt's plea agreement is accepted by the judge, he will be sentenced to time served and face no additional incarceration.