JACKSON – A veteran employee of the North Carolina Department of Correction (DOC) resigned Tuesday after departmental procedures were violated regarding the release of an inmate.

In a press release from DOC, James Troy Smith Jr., a correctional case manager responsible for inmate releases at Odom Correctional Institution near Jackson, resigned his position Tuesday morning.  He was suspended Monday as the Division of Prisons investigates the circumstances surrounding the release of inmate Antwaan Deandre Clanton, age 38.

Clanton was released July 14 from Odom Correctional Institution at the completion of his sentence, but should have been turned over to the custody of the Halifax County Jail since he has multiple pending charges for breaking and entering and is awaiting trial as a habitual felon.

Clanton was charged Monday by the Roanoke Rapids Police Department with a rape that occurred Friday afternoon, one day following his release. Clanton was also charged by the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office with breaking into a home in Weldon that same day.  Officers arrested Clanton Friday night and found him in possession of items stolen from the home in Weldon.

According to the Roanoke Rapids Police, Clanton, on Friday, allegedly kidnapped a Florida woman who exited I-95 to rest while parked in a shaded area of the Halifax Regional Hospital parking lot. Clanton allegedly forced the victim into the back seat of her vehicle before driving to a secluded area where the sexual assault took place. Afterwards, Clanton reportedly walked away from the vehicle, leaving the victim in the car.

Listed as a habitual felon with an extensive rap sheet, Clanton was incarcerated at Odom Correctional Institution, serving a two-year sentence for obtaining property by false pretense and drug possession, both felonies. While he was in prison, Halifax County authorities linked him to other breaking and entering cases, charges that were pending upon his release last week.