Officer pretends to find drugs he hid in CA prison to get a promotion, feds say
A former California correctional officer pleaded guilty to a scheme in which federal prosecutors said he pretended to find weapons and drugs, including cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine, that he “planted” inside a prison and a medical facility for inmates.
While working as a K-9 officer at San Quentin State Prison in the Bay Area, Avelino Ramirez began smuggling and hiding contraband in the facility’s “common areas” in October 2021, according to prosecutors, who said he worked there since 2013.
Known as California’s oldest state prison, the facility is now named the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center and is about a 15-mile drive northwest from San Francisco.
After prosecutors said Ramirez planted contraband, he then acted as if he found the items, which also included cellphones, drug paraphernalia and tobacco, “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.”
His plan succeeded, as he was promoted to K-9 sergeant in September 2022, according to prosecutors.
Following his promotion, prosecutors said Ramirez continued his scheme at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville in Solano County, where he started working a few months later, until February 2024.
Ramirez had said he worked overtime in relation to his fake discoveries and wrote false reports, allowing him to receive about $8,200 overtime pay he was not owed, according to prosecutors.
Now, Ramirez has pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California said in a June 12 news release.
His criminal defense attorney, Martin Caraves of Torres & Caraves Law in Oakland, told McClatchy News over the phone June 13 that Ramirez is “taking full responsibility for his actions and that is elucidated in the plea agreement.”
Caraves said he is seeking a sentence of probation for Ramirez, who is facing up to 20 years in prison, instead of incarceration. Ramirez is also facing a fine up to $250,000, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Ramirez, according to prosecutors, would mix in salt and sugar with the drugs he hid and pretended to locate between 2021 and 2024. Other times, he was accused of mixing lawn trimmings in with marijuana that was planted.
Ramirez ultimately had to resign as a K-9 sergeant position with the California Department of Corrections, according to Caraves.
Caraves emphasized “no inmates were ever deemed at fault” in connection with the government’s accusations of Ramirez planting contraband.
Ramirez was released on bond ahead of his sentencing, which is set for Sept. 18, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
This story was originally published June 13, 2025 at 6:11 PM with the headline "Officer pretends to find drugs he hid in CA prison to get a promotion, feds say."
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