***MEDIA ADVISORY*** March 12, 2007                                FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact:  Curtis T. Hill, Jr., (574) 296-1888  State Prison Guard “Stung” in Local Narcotics Sting           A joint investigation between the Indiana Department of Corrections and the Elkhart County Interdiction and Covert Enforcement Unit  (I.C.E.) has resulted in the arrest of Maurice N. McGee, age 28, 5867 Liberty Creek Drive, Indianapolis, IN.           Over the past several months, officers assigned to the Elkhart County I.C.E. unit have been working with investigators from the Internal Affairs Division of the Indiana State Prison at Pendleton based upon the state prison’s ongoing investigation into illegal contraband being smuggled into the state prison facility and supplied to inmates.  McGee, who is employed as a guard at the Pendleton facility, had been suspected of facilitating the transportation of illegal narcotics into the prison and was a target of the on-going investigation.  It is alleged that McGee had made arrangements to purchase cocaine from an Elkhart County drug dealer and transport the dope back to the Pendleton prison for distribution among inmates.  To McGee’s detriment, the drug dealer was, in reality, an undercover operative with I.C.E.           “Corruption of this magnitude must be addressed decisively, and I am very pleased that the Department of Corrections Superintendent, J. David Donahue is rooting out these offending elements proactively”, said Prosecuting Attorney, Curtis T. Hill, Jr.  “We are very happy to assist and we will make certain that Mr. McGee is provided a sufficient opportunity to experience the inside of the prison bars, as opposed to his previous position”, said Hill.           Following McGee’s Friday, March 9 arrest, he is being held in the Elkhart County Jail on a $500,000 bond, where he has been booked on Suspicion for Delivery of Cocaine in Excess of 3 Grams, as a Class A Felony, and Conspiracy to Deliver in Excess of 3 Grams of Cocaine, a Class A Felony.  Formal charges will be filed this week in Elkhart Superior Court #3.  Upon conviction, McGee could face up to 50 years in prison.  Additional charges are being considered by the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney.           An internal hearing was held on Friday, March 9, 2007, in Pendleton, where McGee has been suspended without pay from his duties as a prison guard, according to officials with the Pendleton facility. The Elkhart County Interdiction and Covert Enforcement Unit (I.C.E.) is comprised of officers from the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department, Elkhart Police Department, Goshen Police Department and the Nappanee Police Department. Â“Under Indiana law, all persons arrested for a criminal offense are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law”