(Grand Forks, ND) — A former Grand Forks County correctional officer is pleading not guilty to phone-smuggling allegations. Twenty-seven-year-old Juan Ortiz-Lopez was arrested on June 16th after the Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Office accused him of providing illegal contraband to inmates at the county correctional center days before. Ortiz-Lopez reportedly told investigators he gave nicotine pouches to an inmate, then allegedly admitted to providing a cell phone to an inmate. He was charged with felony delivery of an electronic device and now faces up to five years in prison after entering his not guilty plea late last week.
