A deputy chief of a penal colony in the Volga area was charged with abuse of office after he ordered an inmate to steal eight electrical transmission towers, investigators said on Tuesday.
“He ordered an inmate to cut down the towers, sell them for scrap and give him the money,” the regional investigation department said in a statement.
The inmate, whose name was not disclosed, was detained by road police while transporting eight transmission towers to the scrap metal buyer.
A commercial organization, which owns the transmission towers, estimated the damage at 57,000 rubles ($1,900).
The penal colony official was charged with abuse of office and faces up to four years in prison.