A Chula Vista man who formerly worked at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility will get a trial date set on May 15 on charges he conspired to distribute heroin to inmates.
Anibal Navarro, 38, has pleaded not guilty to the charges that also include conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine to inmates.
In a separate case, 10 other people are charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin and conspiracy to commit honest services fraud in connection with using Navarro to smuggle drugs inside the state prison.
Navarro is free on $25,000 bond that was set in April by U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Bernard Skomal. Some of the other defendants are inmates who have been transferred to other prisons.
The U.S. Attorney’s office said Navarro smuggled cell phones into the prison, which is considered contraband. According to the charges, Navarro received a small amount of marijuana and 14 grams of methamphetamine on May 3, 2016 from Everaldo Santana, 25, of Los Angeles.
The charges say Navarro was paid several thousand dollars to deliver contraband to inmates.
Navarro allegedly delivered the drugs to Juan Gutierrez, 42, an inmate at Donovan. On May 14, someone intended to deliver meth and heroin to Navarro, but a police officer stopped her in National City and the drugs were discovered.
An officer seized the drugs, but released her with a citation for possession of illegal narcotics, the charges say. After her release, the woman was spotting meeting with Navarro in Imperial Beach.
On June 3, 2016, Navarro is suspected of smuggling 41 grams of meth, and 49 grams of heroin into the prison, and hid them in a staff bathroom.
Navarro was stopped by Internal Affairs officers on June 26, 2016 as he attempted to enter the prison and they found 10 ounces of meth, and four ounces of heroin, according to court records.
Navarro has denied the charges and will stand trial separately from the others, who have also pleaded not guilty.
The others include Martin Gomez, 56, Sylvia Gonzales, 57, Agustin Aceves, 42, Norma Alvarado-Medina, 33, John Price, 20, Vanessa Jackson, 39, Jeremy Gaither, 33, and Hugo Alvarado, 24.
