A California state prison guard has been charged with conspiracy to sell cocaine, possession for sale and transportation across county lines, after prosecutors say he smuggled roughly 44 pounds of the drug across the Mexican border and delivered it to a stash house in the Los Angeles suburbs, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The 45-year-old corrections officer joined the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as a cadet in 2007 and was assigned to Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County. He resigned Thursday, CDCR spokesperson Kyle Buis confirmed.
According to a complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the officer allegedly crossed the U.S.-Mexico border on Aug. 1, 2023, with cocaine concealed in his vehicle, then drove to a house on Bellorita Street in Rowland Heights, where he met a co-conspirator.
That property, investigators allege, was rented by a 27-year-old man specifically to store drugs and cash. He faces identical charges. Neither defendant has entered a plea, and neither had legal representation at the time of publication.
Riverside County Sheriff’s Department deputies and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents searched the house. They found approximately 44 pounds of cocaine and $179,680 in cash, according to a DEA forfeiture notice and a statement from Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
Hochman called the officer’s conduct egregious, saying he had “succumbed to greed” and endangered the public. CDCR said it condemns any employee who violates their oath of office.
DA’s office spokesperson Greg Risling declined to explain why charges were filed nearly three years after the search. Both defendants are presumed innocent.
Pattern of prison corruption cases in California
The case comes two months after the arrest of a California corrections lieutenant on suspicion of smuggling cellphones into Salinas Valley State Prison for $100,000. Matthew Madsen, 39, has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and was released on bail.
Salinas Valley State Prison remains one of the state’s most violent facilities, according to the Los Angeles Times. Five incarcerated people were killed there in 2025; two more have died this year.
Investigators believe the former guard was connected to a larger drug network and did not act alone. A court arraignment is the next scheduled proceeding.