Prison guard pleads guilty to drug smuggling, sex misconduct

WILSONVILLE, Ore. — A former officer at the Coffee Creek Corrections Facility will spend time in prison after pleading guilty to drug and sex charges while on duty in 2019, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon.

Richard Alberts II, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and custodial sexual misconduct, U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams said in a news release.

In December 2019, unsealed court documents showed Alberts and his co-conspirator Joseph Jimenez, were accused of conspiring to distribute heroin and methamphetamine at the women’s prison in Wilsonville where Alberts worked.

Alberts agreed to smuggle opioids, meth and heroin into the prison and provide them to an inmate with whom he was having “an inappropriate and illegal sexual relationship.”

Alberts faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced in February by Judge Michael Simon. It’s expected he will serve about a year under a joint recommendation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

He is expected to be sentenced to probation for the sexual misconduct charge. He also has resigned from the Oregon Department of Corrections and is permanently decertified as a law enforcement officer in Oregon, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.