GUARD GETS FIVE YEARS IN PRISON

'Good Person' Smuggled Drugs Into Remand Centre For
Inmates

EDMONTON - A former guard at the Edmonton Remand Centre has been
sentenced to five years in prison for smuggling drugs inside the jail
for inmates.

Provincial court Judge Michael Allen said Matthew Domke will not have
an easy time behind bars, having once worked on the other side in a
corrections uniform.

"It is entirely likely that he will need to be placed in protective
custody for his own safety," Allen said Friday.

But he ruled against a defence request that Domke be allowed to serve
a two-year sentence in the community.

"Court must attempt to deter anyone from importing drugs, especially
dangerous and addictive drugs, into an institution," said Allen.
"Those who abuse their employee status, thereby breaching the trust,
must expect severe sentences."

Domke, 24, recently pleaded guilty to four counts of possessing
controlled substances for the purpose of trafficking.

He admitted to bringing inmates tobacco in December 2004, after the
province banned smoking in jails. He thought tobacco would help calm
prisoners and prevent fights.

He was then approached by other inmates to transport packages and felt
he had no choice.

"He was afraid that the inmates would 'rat him out,' " said Allen.
"Once he became involved, he found it difficult to extricate himself."

His family was also threatened, Allen said.

Domke tried to get transferred but was only able to have his shift
changed.

In February 2005, while under police surveillance, Domke picked up a
box from a Mill Woods home. He then drove to the Remand Centre and was
arrested before his afternoon shift.

The box, which he carried inside a knapsack, contained marijuana and
about 550 pills, including morphine and codeine. The drugs were worth
about $15,500 inside, four times their value on the street.

Domke, a remand guard for three years, told police he received a small
amount of money for six or seven deliveries over three months.

He said he also got an "adrenalin rush" from his participation. And he
was using cocaine at the time of the offences.

Allen said Domke lived at home with his parents and others described
him as kind and polite.

His personality made him "somewhat susceptible to manipulation by
ruthless inmates," said Allen. "And perhaps, he was not an ideal
candidate to be in charge."

His naivete made him susceptible to extortion, but Domke should have
known that smuggling drugs into a jail would create a more dangerous
atmosphere.

"I hope things go well four you," Allen told Domke before he was taken
into custody.

"I know deep down you're a good person."