Federal Corrections Officer Sentenced to 120 Months on Firearm, Drug and Bribery Convictions

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Federal Bureau of Prisons Corrections Officer Carlos Ochoa, age 33, of Puerto Rico, was sentenced today in two separate cases to a total of 120 months in prison. 

The announcement was made by:

• United States Attorneys Grant C. Jaquith (Northern District of New York) and Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez (District of Puerto Rico);
• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents in Charge James N. Hendricks (Albany Field Office) and Douglas A. Leff (San Juan Field Office); and
• Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (DOJ OIG) Special Agents in Charge James F. Boyersmith (Miami Field Office) and Guido Modano (New York Field Office).

In one case, which was originally charged in the District of Puerto Rico before being transferred to the Northern District of New York, Ochoa pled guilty and admitted to working with an individual in Puerto Rico in 2017 to provide an armed escort for a shipment of multiple kilograms of cocaine in exchange for $5,000.  At the time, Ochoa was working as a Federal Corrections Officer in Puerto Rico.  He pled guilty to attempting to aid and abet possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.  This case was also investigated by the Miami Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF).

In the second case, charged in the Northern District of New York, Ochoa pled guilty and admitted to accepting a $600 cash bribe in October 2012, in exchange for smuggling an iPhone to an inmate while Ochoa was employed at Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Ray Brook, New York.  He pled guilty to bribery by a public official.

Senior United States District Judge Frederick J. Scullin, Jr. also imposed a 4-year term of supervised release, to begin after Ochoa is released from prison. Ochoa was also ordered to forfeit $17,840 and a black 2015 Cadillac Escalade.

These cases were investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, and the ATF.

The cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Douglas Collyer and Katherine Kopita of the Northern District of New York, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth A. Erbe of the District of Puerto Rico.