Probation Technician Sentenced to Prison

United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that on December 7, 2016, Senior United States District Judge Richard G. Kopf sentenced Victor Ramirez, 25, of Lexington, Nebraska, to 18 months in federal prison for the felony offense of taking bribes to engage in certain actions connected with his state employment.  Upon his release from prison, Ramirez will serve two years on supervised release. 

Victor Ramirez was a drug technician for the Nebraska State Probation Office in Lexington, Nebraska.  Between August 25, 2015, and December 16, 2015, he received approximately $2,000 - $2,400 from an offender who was on probation and being supervised by the Lexington state probation office. In return for the money Ramirez provided the offender with information, and falsified drug test results.  The offender and Ramirez were life-long friends, and on several occasions Ramirez reported that the offender had passed a drug screening test when in fact no such test had been administered.  On several other occasions Ramirez supplied information to the offender regarding whether other persons were the subject of state criminal investigations, and information pertaining to how other persons had posted bond to be released from jail. 

This case was investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.