(NewsNation) — In a 16-month period, the Kentucky Department of Corrections reportedly found more than 40 employees were involved in inappropriate relationships or smuggling drugs into prisons for inmates.

Former corrections officer Gary Heyward, who pleaded guilty to smuggling drugs into Riker’s Island in 1996, told NewsNation’s Dan Abrams this type of behavior is likely happening across the country.

At the time, the former Marine’s goal was to start paying off debts and backed-up child support payments after a divorce.

“In my case, and other cases, being comfortable hiding behind the integrity of the badge,” Heyward said during an appearance on “Dan Abrams Live.” “You’re going to trust me because I took an oath for this badge. So you’re not going to question my motives when I come inside the jail. It made it easy for me.”

As it pertains to sexual relationships between inmates and guards, Heyward said he was only “surprised by a little.”

“I’m not an expert on why a person would have sex with an inmate. But when you’re in these jobs, and you work long hours, and you’re away from your loved ones, correction officers are human,” Heyward said. “In close proximity, and that shield is taken down, and you look at that inmate as a person, which is wrong, but the likelihood of you getting caught is slim.”

The Lexington Herald-Leader asked Kentucky prison leaders questions about the inmate sex and drug smuggling allegations, to which they responded: “We deal with it.”

“I’m pretty confident in saying that if it happens, we become aware of it and we deal with it very rapidly,” Kentucky Corrections Deputy Commissioner Scott Jordan said during a short interview with the publication.