By Gary Klien
The Marin Independent Journal, Novato, Calif.
VACAVILLE, Calif. — A former officer at San Quentin prison has been indicted over allegations he planted contraband in a scheme to “discover” it himself, increase his overtime pay and get promoted to sergeant, according to court documents.
Avelino Ramirez is charged with one federal count of wire fraud. The maximum penalty is 20 years in custody and a $250,000 fine.
Ramirez worked as an investigator and dog handler at San Quentin from 2013 to 2022, according to the indictment. He was elevated to sergeant in 2022 and reassigned to the state prison in Vacaville.
Ramirez smuggled prohibited items into both prisons, placed it in various areas and “pretended to discover said contraband,” the indictment alleges.
“Ramirez did so in order to hold himself out as a successful K-9 officer with the hope that it would help him obtain a promotion to K-9 sergeant and also to fraudulently inflate his salary through overtime pay for report writing following these false discoveries,” the filing says. “Contraband items Ramirez planted included drugs, drug paraphernalia, tobacco, cellphones and weapons.”
Ramirez vastly outperformed his colleagues in the confiscation of such items, and on some occasions declared seven or eight hours of overtime pay for writing reports that were a few lines long, authorities allege. The total overtime pay amounted to about $8,200.
The pay was transferred by direct deposit to his Police Credit Union checking account.
A federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Ramirez on Oct. 31 . He has not been arrested. A representative of the U.S. Attorney’s Office said it did not know whether Ramirez has a defense attorney.
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Ramirez, described in court filings as a resident of Vallejo, could not be reached for comment. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 22 before Magistrate Judge Thomas Hixson in San Francisco.
The case is the second federal indictment in recent months involving San Quentin staff. In late September, Keith Reindeer Randle, a custodian, was arrested on allegations he attempted to smuggle drugs inside and sell them to inmates.
Randle was charged with possessing 300 grams of methamphetamine and a smaller amount of cannabis oil, drugs that were allegedly found inside a peanut butter jar in his backpack.
Randle claimed the jar wasn’t his and that he was just on his way to return it when he was stopped and searched by a corrections sergeant that day, according to court records.
Randle has been released from custody while his case is pending. His defense attorney did not respond to a call for comment.
Bay Area News Group contributed to this report.
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