West Covina Woman Conspires with Drug Counselor to Smuggle Drugs into Prison: Feds

By MAGGIE AVANTS (Patch Staff)

SAN DIEGO, CA — A West Covina woman conspired with a supervisory drug counselor at Calipatria State Prison to smuggled drugs and other contrabands into the prison, according to a federal grand jury indictment.

The pair were among eight people — including inmates who participated in a drug rehabilitation program — indicted by a federal grand jury on suspicion of their involvement in a network that allegedly smuggled methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana into the prison.

Myesha Walters, 34, of West Covina allegedly gave drugs to Angela Carr, 44, who was a supervisory drug counselor at the prison located in Imperial County, not far from the Salton Sea, to smuggle into the prison, authorities said. Her position involved routinely meeting with inmates attending the prison’s substance abuse program.

The drugs and scores of cellphones allegedly smuggled into the prison by Carr on one occasion were estimated to have a prison value of nearly $1.2 million, federal authorities stated Tuesday in a news release, calling the smuggling conspiracy the largest prosecuted in connection with a prison in the Southern District of California.

It was also the first time that the San Diego Federal Bureau of Investigations and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials have targeted not only the corrupt prison official, but inmates and their conspirators on the outside, according to the news release.

Four of Carr's alleged co-conspirators are inmates — three of whom participated in her drug-addiction recovery program. One of those inmates, D’Mondo Burns, was a drug counseling mentor to other inmates, authorities said.

“While occupying a position of trust, Ms. Carr is alleged to have facilitated the distribution of drugs within the prison population at Calipatria State Prison, thereby undermining the correction and rehabilitation of its inmates,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge (SAC), Eric S. Birnbaum. “The smuggling of contraband is not only a threat to the integrity of our prison system, but to the safety of the American public which is why the FBI is committed to rooting out corruption at all levels within our prison system.”

The other inmates charged include Ryan Hawes, Nathaniel Frazier and Brandon Carroll. So while these inmates purported to be seeking help in kicking their drug habits, in fact, authorities said, they were utilizing the prison’s drug counseling program to smuggle drugs and other contraband into the facility.

Hawes, 25, was arrested Tuesday morning in Lancaster and Frazier, 28, was arrested in Los Angeles. Burns, 26, and Carroll, 34, were already in custody.

According to a search warrant affidavit, Carr is suspected of receiving the drugs from three women who have relationships with inmates at Calipatria. They were identified as Brittney Turner, Tameika Watts and Walters.

According to the search warrant, Carr would allegedly meet the women in parking lots of bowling allies and big-box stores in Palmdale and Moreno Valley to receive the drugs and contraband. Carr then would bring the controlled substances — including methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana, Xanax, Valium, Soma and Norco — into the prison, concealed in chip bags, Quaker Oatmeal boxes and cookie and coffee containers, authorities allege.

Walters was arrested in West Covina, but Watts and Turner are at large, authorities said in the new release.

The indictment also alleges that Carr smuggled as many as 40 cellphones at a time into the prison. Authorities said these phones were to be sold to other inmates, and used to coordinate criminal activity both inside and outside the facility.

All told, authorities allege Carr smuggled drugs and contraband into the Calipatria prison on at least three occasions. In return, she was paid about $3,500 in total.

Prison staff do not end up making as much money from these criminal enterprises as they might expect, authorities said in the news release. Manipulative inmates convince correctional staff to first bring in items that seem innocuous, like tobacco and currency, authorities said.

But once the official has done so, inmates quickly begin pressuring the official, under threat of exposure, to bring in drugs, cellphones or other dangerous contraband including items that could be used as weapons. These crimes endanger the safety of the staff and inmates and undermine the security of the public at large, authorities said.

Carr’s alleged corruption was discovered in August 2015 when she was confronted at the staff entrance of the prison, "reeking of marijuana," according to the news release. Allegedly, she was found to be secretly carrying all of these contraband items: almost a pound of methamphetamine; four pounds of marijuana; a quarter-pound of heroin; 409 tablets of Soma, Xanax, Valium and Norco; 212 grams of tobacco; four bottles of cough syrup and 39 cellphones.

Carr was detained and her case is pending.

The defendants face maximum sentences of life in prison if convicted.

Along with the announcement Tuesday of the indictments, federal and state law enforcement officials said that, going forward, they will continue to take an aggressive stand against this dangerous activity and targeting all involved.

“We are putting everyone on notice: Whatever part you play in the prison smuggling equation, you’re going to be held accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy. “If you smuggle drugs and contraband into prisons located in the Southern District of California, we will prosecute you federally. And if you’re in prison, we’re not going to overlook you just because you’re already there.”

The FBI encourages the public to report allegations of public corruption to its hotline at 877-NO-BRIBE (662-7423).

“We take allegations of staff smuggling drugs into prison very seriously,” said California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Scott Kernan. “CDCR fully investigates, and assists in any prosecutions. In this case, we appreciate the collaboration with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

—Photo courtesy of the U.S. Attorney's Office