A correctional officer at a federal prison in Santa Barbara County and his wife pleaded guilty on Wednesday, August 5, to smuggling contraband, including a drug used to treat opioid addiction, to an inmate in exchange for a total of $6,650.
Officials say Lompoc residents Paul Betancourt, 38, and Sylvia Betancourt, 49, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide contraband to a federal inmate.
According to their plea agreements, Paul Betancourt was employed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) as a correctional officer at the Federal Correctional Complex in Lompoc.
Officials with the Department of Justice say that for several months in 2023, Paul Betancourt agreed to provide contraband to an inmate.
Sylvia Betancourt allegedly received payment and contraband from the inmate through the inmate’s intermediaries, which she then delivered to her husband.
The DOJ says the defendants admitted that on at least 13 occasions, they received payment from a Lompoc inmate or one of the inmate’s intermediaries for the delivery of contraband.
In total, the inmate allegedly paid the defendants $6,650 to provide contraband to him at FCC Lompoc.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has indefinitely suspended Paul Betancourt.
Sentencing hearings are scheduled for January 2027.
The defendants will each face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
