A former state corrections official is expected to plead guilty to theft and accepting a bribe next week.

Gerald E. Merrill, 64, of Abbot, was arrested and charged with theft and bribery in July 2023.

His attorney, Walter McKee, confirmed in an email Wednesday night that Merrill plans to plead guilty in Penobscot County Superior Court on Monday. The plea was first reported by the Bangor Daily News.

The former deputy superintendent at the Mountain View Correctional Facility in Charleston and Downeast Correctional Facility in Machiasport was accused of using state money to buy products from certain vendors in exchange for more than $10,000 in kickbacks over the course of nearly a decade, according to a criminal complaint.

Merrill allegedly used state-issued credit cards from March 2014 until his arrest to pay five companies that sent money to his personal accounts, the complaint said.

Following Merrill’s arrest in 2023, Maine State Auditor Matthew Dunlap said the criminal investigation by the Office of the Maine Attorney General stemmed from a broader examination of how state employees used procurement cards. They work like credit cards and allow employees to quickly and easily make small purchases with state dollars without needing to go through an invoice or bidding process.

Merrill’s spending pattern caught the auditors’ attention, Dunlap said.