Former San Quentin officer who planted drugs to boost career pleads guilty

A former California prison K-9 sergeant pleaded guilty to a federal wire fraud charge for orchestrating a years-long scheme in which he smuggled and planted contraband inside correctional facilities, and pretended to discover it to boost his career.

Avelino Ramirez, a 52-year-old Vallejo resident, confessed to planting drugs, weapons, and other illicit items in San Quentin State Prison and the California Medical Facility, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California said in a statement.