Ex-Correctional Officer at Federal Prison in Victorville Sentenced to 6 Months in Prison for Taking Bribe to Smuggle Contraband to Prisoner

          SANTA ANA, California – A former federal correctional officer who worked at the United States Penitentiary in Victorville was sentenced today to six months in federal prison and six months of home detention for taking a $1,000 bribe to smuggle contraband to a prisoner inside the facility.

          Ignacio Adrian Sobers Jr., 31, of San Bernardino, was sentenced this morning by United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton.

          During the sentencing hearing, Judge Staton said, “Corruption in the prison system is no small matter…. If the officer corrupts that system, the system breaks down, and the public pays for that breakdown.”

          Sobers pleaded guilty in March to one count of acceptance of a bribe by a public official.

          Sobers was arrested by federal authorities on January 21 after receiving a $1,000 payment and a gift-wrapped package filled with contraband in a parking lot of a fast food restaurant in San Bernardino.

          The contraband that Sobers received for the purpose of smuggling to the inmate included one cellular phone, three MP3 players, four pornographic magazines, and one multi-DVD set of pornographic movies. Sobers knew that inmates were prohibited from possessing these objects.

          The inmate’s contact outside the prison cooperated with law enforcement during the January 21 incident in which Sobers accepted $1,000 in cash to smuggle the package to the inmate.

          The investigation in this case was conducted by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General, Investigations Division, Los Angeles Field Office.

          The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Julius J. Nam of the Riverside Branch Office.