United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

FORMER FCI SEAGOVILLE EMPLOYEE
PLEADS GUILTY TO PUBLIC CORRUPTION CHARGE

Today, in U.S. District Court in Dallas before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul D. Stickney, Pedro Coronado, Jr. pled guilty to one count of bribery of a public official, announced United States Attorney Richard B. Roper. Coronado was employed by the U.S. Department of Justice as a Recreation Specialist for the Federal Bureau of Prisons at the Federal Correctional Institution in Seagoville, Texas (FCI Seagoville). Coronado, age 36, of Red Oak, Texas, faces a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. He may also be barred from holding any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 14, 2007, by U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn.

Pedro Coronado, Jr. was arrested on August 1, 2006, on charges outlined in a federal criminal complaint alleging that he accepted bribe money in exchange for smuggling contraband into FCI Seagoville. Coronado appeared before a United States Magistrate Judge who released him on a personal recognizance bond. A federal grand jury returned an indictment later that month charging Coronado with one count of bribery of a public official and one count of providing or possessing contraband in prison.

In plea papers filed in Court, Coronado admitted that on July 17, 2006, he accepted $1,000 cash in return for smuggling Creatine, a prohibited object, into FCI Seagoville and providing it to an inmate, Bruce Curry. Creatine is a contraband nutritional enhancement supplement. Coronado admitted that he understood that his actions in smuggling Creatine into FCI Seagoville, and accepting payment in return for the smuggling, were in violation of the Bureau of Prisons regulations, threatening to the order, discipline, and security of the prison, and in violation of his official duties.

On July 21, 2006, Bruce Curry received two bags of powdered Creatine from Coronado inside of FCI Seagoville, which Curry handed over to law enforcement officers. Two days later, on July 23, 2006, Coronado approached Curry and told him that he would smuggle additional Creatine into FCI Seagoville in exchange for $3,000. They agreed that the $3,000 would be delivered to Coronado outside of the prison. On July 31, 2006, Coronado met with an undercover agent, posing as Curry’s sister, and accepted $3,000 cash from the undercover agent and said that the $3,000 was in exchange for future delivery of Creatine to inmate Bruce Curry.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorneys Glenn Harrison and Stephen Booker.

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