Former Federal Correctional Officer Pleads Guilty to Distributing Methamphetamine in Federal Prison in Lassen County

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Antonio Ray Ramirez, 35, of Susanville, pleaded guilty today to one count of distributing methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.

According to court documents, in August 2024, while working as a Correctional Officer, Ramirez knowingly distributed 869 grams of methamphetamine and 127 grams of heroin in the Federal Correctional Institution in Herlong. When beginning an overnight shift, Ramirez smuggled the drugs into the prison by evading security screening, hid them in a laundry room, and told an inmate where to find them. Ramirez received $15,000 in payment for smuggling the drugs. The drugs were eventually recovered from the inmate by other correctional officers.

The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dhruv M. Sharma and Nicholas Fogg are prosecuting the case.

Ramirez is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Daniel J. Calabretta on Jan. 21, 2026. Ramirez faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.