Home El Paso Press Releases 2009 Three Reeves County Detention Facility Employees Indicted by a Federal Grand Jury
Info
This is archived material from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) website. It may contain outdated information and links may no longer function.

Three Reeves County Detention Facility Employees Indicted by a Federal Grand Jury

U.S. Attorney’s Office March 17, 2009
  • Western District of Texas (210) 384-7100

United States Attorney Johnny Sutton announced today that three prison employees working at the Reeves County Detention Center (RCDC) in Pecos, Texas, were indicted and arrested for providing contraband to prisoners.  Those indicted include prison guard Jacob C. Guzman, case manager Moises B. Martinez, Jr., and prison guard Sylvia Castillo Chairez.  The defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury in Midland, Texas, on Wednesday March 11, 2008.  Martinez and Chairez surrendered to authorities this morning in Pecos, Texas.  Guzman surrendered earlier.

Employees reporting for work at RCDC are required to pass through a security screening area which includes a metal detector.  As part of the security screening, sometimes employees must submit to a physical body inspection (pat-down) to ensure that contraband and other prohibited items are not introduced into the facility, either deliberately or inadvertently.  Among other things, contraband includes, drugs, cellphones, and tobacco products.

According to the indictment, on September 10, 2008, Defendant Guzman reported for work at RCDC and, pursuant to routine, passed through the metal detector.  An alarm indicated the presence of metal so Guzman was asked to remove some visible safety pins on his pants, and pass through the metal detector again.  When he did so, the alarm sounded again.  Security personnel asked him to step to the side momentarily to allow for the usage of a hand-held metal detector, but he did not wait and instead ran to the men’s restroom where he was observed attempting to flush two bags of tobacco down the toilet.

The indictment further alleges, that upon investigation by law enforcement, it was discovered that Guzman received a $100.00 payment on or about August 13, 2008, from an individual in Nashville, Tennessee, to smuggle the contraband tobacco into the RCDC.

In a separate, but related indictment, Moises B. Martinez, Jr, was charged with accepting five bribes, ranging from $500 to $900, to bring contraband into the RCDC.  The indictment alleges that Martinez accepted the bribes beginning on or about June 4, 2008, through July 23, 2008.

In still another separate, but related indictment, Sylvia Castillo Chairez, is charged with six counts of accepting bribes to smuggle in contraband.  According to the indictment, beginning in November 2007, and continuing until on or about June 7, 2008, on at least six occasions Chairez accepted bribes from an individual in New York, ranging from $500.00 to $1,100.00 in return for smuggling cell phones into RCDC.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Reeves County Detention Center and is being prosecuted for the government by Assistant United States Attorney John Klassen.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until convicted through due process of law.

#####

This content has been reproduced from its original source.