A prison guard at the federal detention center in downtown San Antonio will have to be guarded himself for the next 40 months, because he will be on the inside for trying to sell meth, heroin, and other contraband to inmates, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The feds say Jewel Jefferson, 38, actually entered into a partnership with an inmate to smuggle items into the prison.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Jefferson now gets to spend time behind the same bars he once guarded. Crime and
corruption have no place in our federal detention facilities, and DEA will continue to work with our partners to
aggressively investigate and prosecute these cases,” said DEA SAC Will Glaspy.
Prosecutors say Jefferson and inmate Brian Gonzalez had a partnership where Jefferson would use his badge to smuggling items into the facility, and Gonzalez would sell the items to inmate. Gonzalez, 40, has been sentenced to 63 months.
The federal detention center, which is operated by the private G.E.O. group, is located in the former Bexar County Jail downtown. It generally houses inmates who are awaiting trial in federal court, have returned for appeals of their cases, or are awaiting shipment to federal penitentiaries. It is set to be demolished to make way for the expansion of the downtown campus of UTSA.