A former California corrections officer pleaded guilty Monday to federal charges, admitting he covered up the assault of two inmates, one of whom died, and then bragged about it in text messages.
The former officer, Arturo Pacheco, 40, of Elk Grove, Calif., pleaded guilty to two counts of deprivation of rights under the law and two counts of falsifying records in a federal case. He could face up to 60 years in prison, but under a plea deal, the government has agreed to recommend that he receive no more than 12 years and seven months when he is sentenced on Oct. 17.
A lawyer representing Mr. Pacheco did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Phillip A. Talbert, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California, said he was pleased to see Mr. Pacheco was responsible for his actions.
“While Pacheco thought a ‘green wall’ or code of silence would protect him, he was wrong,” Talbert said. he said in a press release. “Those who violate the public trust by harming inmates ‘under the color of law’ or covering up their wrongdoing must and will be held accountable.”
Mr. Pacheco, who worked at California State Prison, Sacramento, as a sergeant, was escorting a handcuffed inmate on Sept. 15, 2016, when he pulled the man’s legs out from under him, prosecutors said . The inmate, who is not named in the indictment, fell forward onto the concrete, breaking his jaw and several teeth.
The man was taken to UC Davis Medical Center, where he died of a pulmonary embolism about two days later.
While the inmate was in the hospital, prosecutors said, Mr. Pacheco and other correctional officers began falsifying reports to cover up the episode.
Mr. Pacheco told Ashley M. Aurich, a former California State Prison, Sacramento, guard, that the two were going to keep their reports “in house,” crafting false narratives to present as documentation, according to the plea agreement. statement
The two lied in the reports, saying the victim stopped moving, turned to his left and lunged forward, according to the plea agreement. They wrote that he had broken free from the escort of Mr. Pacheco, demanding that he bring him to the ground in a “controlled manner”. Mr. Pacheco and Mrs. Aurich also intentionally left another corrections officer out of his report out of fear that the officer would file an accurate report, prosecutors said.
Ms. Aurich was also charged in the case. He pleaded guilty in January 2021 on a charge of falsifying records and is to be sentenced on September 26.
Months before the inmate’s death, prosecutors said, Mr. Pacheco was involved in a confrontation with another inmate.
On May 19, 2016, Mr. Pacheco sprayed an inmate in the eyes with pepper spray at close range while the inmate was in a cell, prosecutors said. Mr. Pacheco created a false report to justify his actions because the inmate “was fully complying with orders and any use of force at that time was illegal,” prosecutors said. In the report, Mr. Pacheco falsely claimed that the inmate threatened him and said the inmate wanted to kill himself.
Later, Mr. Pacheco texted his friend bragging about what had happened and saying he thought it was “funny.”
It’s “all about how you write your report,” “plus your partners get back to you,” wrote Mr. Pacheco Blood, “broken glass, and only your partners. … Green light!”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating possible abuse at a Sacramento prison following allegations that corrections officers conspired with inmates to orchestrate the murders of two other inmates. according to The Sacramento Bee.
