Jail Tutor Plotted With Inmate To Smuggle Drugs Into LA Juvenile Hall: DA

DOWNEY, CA — Two men, including an inmate, have been charged in connection with trying to smuggle drugs into Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Alejandro Lopez, a 21-year-old tutor with the Fresno nonprofit Student Nest, is accused of trying to smuggle roughly 170 Xanax pills to Orlando Cuevas, an 18-year-old inmate at the juvenile jail.

Investigators with the Los Angeles County Probation Department saw Lopez hand an electrical tape-wrapped bundle to Cuevas on June 30, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

“Our juvenile facilities must remain secure, drug-free environments where young people have a real chance at rehabilitation,” District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said in a statement Thursday. “That responsibility applies to everyone — whether it’s a contractor on the outside or a youth on the inside. Anyone who participates in smuggling narcotics into these facilities will be held accountable. We will not allow illegal drugs to threaten the safety of our institutions or the futures of those entrusted to our care.”

Lopez, a Downey resident, has been charged with one felony count each of bringing or sending a controlled substance into a juvenile hall or camp and possession for sale of a designated controlled substance, according to the LADA, who said the 21-year-old may have also gotten other people to participate in the smuggling operation.

Cuevas, a Long Beach resident, faces one felony count of unlawful possession for sale of a designated controlled substance, authorities said.

If convicted of the charges, both men could be sentenced to a maximum of 3 years in state prison, the LADA said.

The charges against the two men come just a month after an LA County Deputy Probation Officer was charged with conspiring with inmates at the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar to bring drugs into the jail, authorities said.