Mount Hope, N.Y.—A former dental assistant who was contracted to work at the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville has been accused of taking bribes to smuggle contraband into the prison.
The Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced on June 24 that Terri Lynn Outer, 50, is charged with bribery, conspiracy to provide or possess contraband in prison, and providing or possessing contraband in prison. The first charge could carry up to 15 years in prison, and the last two charges could each carry up to five years in prison.
Outer, a resident of Montague, New Jersey, was employed at the Otisville federal prison from January 2024 to August 2025 as a dental assistant. She allegedly accepted more than $163,000 from the family of inmates and their associates to smuggle contraband and prohibited objects into the prison.
The complaint alleges that she had been communicating with inmates and former inmates, their families, and associates about smuggling operations. It notes that she specifically spoke with an inmate about a 6-pound package that she planned to smuggle in.
Around the date Aug. 1, 2025, prison staff investigated a specific supply room used by the Health Services Department, to which Outer had access. Staff found contraband that included a 3.2-pound bag of marijuana and a 6.7-pound bag of loose-leaf tobacco.
U.S. Attorney for the District Jay Clayton said in the announcement that it’s important to prevent corruption and smuggling because they make prisons more dangerous and rehabilitation harder.
The prison has rarely had issues with smuggling or corruption, as the last notable case happened in 2009, when the former correction officer Hope Spinato was sentenced to eight months for helping a drug dealer she had a romantic relationship with escape the facility.
The Federal Correctional Institution is a medium-security male prison located within the Village of Otisville. It houses 984 inmates and is located next to the Otisville Correctional Facility, a state prison.
The facility is known to accommodate Orthodox Jewish people and house white-collar criminals, including former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, fraudster Sholam Weiss, who was sentenced to 845 years, and Billy McFarland, the organizer of the Fyre Festival.
The Epoch Times could not reach Outer’s legal representatives for comment.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment by publication time.
