Terri Lynn Outer, 50, of Montague, New Jersey, worked as a contracted dental assistant at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Otisville, a federal prison in Orange County, New York, when she was charged with bribery, providing contraband in prison, and conspiracy to provide contraband in prison, after allegedly accepting more than $163,000 from inmates’ family members and associates in exchange for smuggling contraband into the facility.
Note: Unlike most Hall of Shame entries, this case did not occur at a private dental practice — Outer worked as a contracted dental assistant inside a federal prison’s health services unit. It is included here because it illustrates the same pattern of financial dishonesty and breach of trust by a member of a dental team, in this instance through bribery and smuggling rather than embezzlement.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed on June 24, 2026 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Outer was employed as a dental assistant contractor at FCI Otisville from January 2024 through August 2025. During that period, prosecutors allege she solicited and received payments from inmates and their associates in exchange for smuggling contraband and prohibited objects into the prison, and engaged in extensive communications with inmates, former inmates, and their family members and associates about the scheme, including discussions about having a package weighing over six pounds smuggled into the facility.
On August 1, 2025, prison staff searched a supply room used by the Health Services Department at FCI Otisville, to which Outer had access. The search recovered approximately 3.2 pounds of marijuana and 6.7 pounds of loose-leaf tobacco. Outer was arrested on June 24, 2026 and presented before a U.S. Magistrate Judge the same day.
The case was investigated by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the FCI Otisville Special Investigative Services, and the New Jersey State Police, and is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
The alleged payments to Outer were estimated at more than $163,000, received from inmates’ family members and associates over the course of the scheme.
The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and Outer is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Former BOP Contractor Charged With Accepting Bribes In Exchange For Smuggling Contraband — U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, June 24, 2026