Former Puerto Rico Correctional Officer Sentenced for Scheme to Smuggle Heroin into State Prison

WASHINGTON—A former correctional officer in Puerto Rico was sentenced to serve 37 months in prison for attempting to smuggle heroin into state prison by delivering it to an inmate in the parking lot of the Medical Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez of the District of Puerto Rico made the announcement.

William Joel Medina, 32, of Quebradillas, Puerto Rico, pleaded guilty on November 22, 2013 to conspiracy and attempt to distribute controlled substances. Medina was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Carmen C. Cerezo of the District of Puerto Rico.

From July through August 2009, Medina and a co-conspirator agreed to receive $2,500 to deliver heroin to an inmate at the Medical Center in San Juan. On August 5, 2009, Medina and his co-conspirator met with an undercover agent, who they believed was a drug dealer, and were given what they believed to be a package of heroin. Medina delivered the purported heroin to an inmate in the parking lot of the Medical Center that same day.

In September 2009, Medina and a co-conspirator agreed to receive $4,000 to deliver another package of heroin to the same inmate at the Medical Center in San Juan. On September 9, 2009, Medina and his co-conspirator met with an undercover agent, who they believed was a drug dealer, and were given what they believed to be a package of heroin. Medina’s co-conspirator delivered the purported heroin to the inmate that same day.

Medina also admitted in his plea agreement that he had engaged in a similar scheme on a third occasion.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s San Juan Division. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Menaka Kalaskar of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Hector Ramirez-Carbó of the District of Puerto Rico.