Instead, he said, he ended up working in Great Meadow Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison about 60 miles north of Albany.

After 10 years on the job, McMurry was arrested in January 2000 when an inmate was caught with 5.27 ounces of marijuana and told authorities McMurry was his source. McMurry confessed and admitted bringing marijuana for inmates three other times. He was paid with a share of the marijuana. He served almost a year in prison.

Speaking from his home in Washington County, McMurry described prison as a big city behind walls, a far different place from the farm life he was used to.

"I'm from a little town," he said. "I got chickens and rabbits."

Inmates, he said, took advantage of him.

"Your kindness becomes your weakness," he said.

McMurry said he only did what he felt he had to do to survive in an environment where he didn't fit in.

"If I was the type of person from New York City or Buffalo, I would have been a tough guy. If you approached me, I would have put you in your place," he said. "What I was trying to do was survive."

McMurry said he wasn't aware of any other prison employees bringing drugs in to inmates at Great Meadow.

- Susan Schulman