Correction's corruption.

A high-ranking, Trenton-based Department of Corrections official may soon see what life is like on the other side of the prison bars. He was caught on audio and video by the FBI soliciting and accepting thousands of dollars in bribes from two subordinates, federal officials announced yesterday.

Between May and early October, Lydell B. Sherrer allegedly accepted $9,000 in cash payments and handed over official corrections documents during meetings at the Crystal Diner in Lawrence and the Americana Diner in East Windsor.

Sherrer, a 51-year-old Neptune resident, was taken into custody Tuesday morning at the Hyatt Regency in West Windsor, moments after accepting $2,000 cash handed over by one of the two employees who had turned FBI informant, authorities said.

“There is no place in government for shakedowns, and those who believe bribes are how business is done in New Jersey will learn the consequence of their corruption,” U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said in a statement.

Sherrer, the department’s Assistant Commissioner for the Division of Programs and Community Services, initiated negotiations with both employees, according to a criminal complaint. Both reported his actions, prompting an FBI sting operation. Their identities are being kept confidential.

For one employee had learned he would be laid off June 30, Sherrer allegedly offered to either return the worker to a similar job or secure a well-paid position with a department contractor for $10,000. An employee who found he was going to be demoted was approached by Sherrer within days, who said that for $6,500 Sherrer would serve as a silent advocate during private meetings and negotiations about a potential discrimination lawsuit, according to the complaint.

Sherrer had no illusions about what he was doing, said FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael Ward. “It should not go unnoticed that Sherrer, during the course of several meetings with multiple cooperating witnesses, set his price and openly acknowledged the quid pro quo that could be expected by those meeting his price, be it the promise of a new job or favorable influence with settlement of a lawsuit,” he said.

The FBI was listening as Sherrer talked with the laid-off employee on the phone Sept. 8. “We discussed me getting a position based on quid pro quo, right?” the employee asked. “Yes,” Sherrer answered, according to the complaint. Sherrer was also recorded asking the same person if he had any “green” for him, but was told he would not get any more money until the former employee got a job.

“Defendant Sherrer responded, ‘You know something, that sounds more than fair and (pause) nooo, that’s more than fair, that’s what we agreed to,’” the complaint reads. Sherrer is a 28-year veteran of the corrections department, whose 2009 salary was listed as $131,000 in public records. In 2009, Sherrer had been a deputy commissioner reporting directly to the head of the department. He last completed ethics training on March 31, authorities said.

If convicted, Sherrer faces a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each of the two counts of of soliciting and receiving bribes in connection with his official duties. Fishman thanked FBI special agents from the bureau’s Trenton Resident Agency with developing the investigation.