ORIENT – A Pickaway Correctional Institution officer appeared in Circleville Municipal Court this morning after Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers arrested him yesterday for conveying illegal drugs into the Pickaway Correctional Institution.

Troopers charged Allan V. Svendsen, 47, of Columbus with conveying drugs onto the grounds of a detention facility, a third-degree felony.

Troopers and Department of Rehabilitation and Correction investigators obtained information that Svendsen was working to convey illegal drugs to an inmate at the Pickaway Correctional Institution. Svendsen was arrested at 9:25 p.m. yesterday after he accepted eight ounces of marijuana from an undercover agent at an off-site location.

Svendsen was incarcerated in the Circleville Police Department. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol investigates criminal activity on state-owned and leased property.

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