EBENSBURG, Pa. -- A guard and nine other people at a state prison have been charged with operating separate drug and fraudulent check rings.

Clarence Johnson, 30, a guard at the State Correctional Institution at Cresson since 2000, was charged with 15 counts of violating the state's drug law, bribery, and criminal use of a communications facility.

He allegedly shuttled illegal drugs transported from the Philadelphia area to an inmate. He was arrested along with four others following a grand jury investigation.

Mr. Johnson is accused of passing cocaine, heroin and other drugs and contraband to Nathan Avery, a prisoner who sold the drugs to fellow inmates.

The grand jury recommended the arrest of five others, including three prisoners, for making and cashing forged checks. The check scam was uncovered during the drug investigation, authorities said.

First Published: February 22, 2006, 5:00 a.m.