California Prison Guard Indicted for Corruption

SACRAMENTO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that today a federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment charging Bobby Joe Kirby, 55, of Reno, Nev., with honest services wire fraud for taking bribes.

According to the indictment, Kirby worked as a correctional officer at the California Correctional Center in Susanville, a minimum-security facility of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). The indictment alleges that Kirby used his official position to enrich himself by soliciting and accepting payments from inmates and persons acting on inmates’ behalf in exchange for smuggling tobacco and cellular telephones into the prison. Using two different aliases, Kirby directed inmates to pay him through Western Union and MoneyGram wire transfers. Between June 14, 2010 and June 17, 2011, Kirby accepted more than $15,000 from this scheme.

This case is the product of an investigation by the FBI and CDCR. Assistant United States Attorney Matthew D. Segal is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Kirby faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 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.

The charges are only allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.