December 4, 2014

Ex-Employee at Federal Prison in San Pedro Pleads Guilty to Accepting Bribe to Smuggle Mobile Phone into Facility

LOS ANGELES—A Lake Elsinore man who was employed as a correctional officer at the Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island has pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge for taking $1,000 in cash to smuggle a cell phone into the prison facility.

Luis Borjon, 52, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to the felony charge and admitted that he took the payment while employed as a correctional officer by the United States Bureau of Prisons.

Borjon pleaded guilty before United States District Judge R. Gary Klausner, who is scheduled to sentence the defendant on February 23, 2015. At sentencing, Borjon will face a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison.

According to court documents, Borjon approached an inmate under his supervision at the Terminal Island prison in November 2012 and solicited a “loan.” The inmate put Borjon in contact with the inmate’s brother, who was not in custody, and Borjon called the inmate’s brother to provide him with the number for Borjon’s “burner cell phone” (a disposable phone).

The inmate’s brother met Borjon in January 2013 at a gas station in Lake Elsinore, where Borjon accepted approximately $1,000 in cash and a cell phone to smuggle into the prison. Borjon subsequently smuggled the cell phone into the Terminal Island facility and delivered it to the inmate. Soon after, other correctional officers found and seized the smuggled cell phone.

After being indicted by a federal grand jury in June, Borjon was arrested on September 16. He was subsequently freed on bond.

The Borjon investigation was conducted by the United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Drug Enforcement Administration provided assistance during the investigation.