King County Jail guard charged with helping deliver drugs into the jail
Six people, including a King County Jail guard, have been charged with crimes in connection with smuggling meth and fentanyl into the jail.
Mosses Ramos, 39, of Milton, Wash., is accused of taking bribes and helping to deliver drugs into the jail last spring. According to the Department of Justice, Ramos worked as a correctional officer at the King County Jail for 17 years before he was fired in September 2023. The DOJ alleges that Ramos took bribes to get meth and fentanyl into the jail.
Charging documents state that Ramos allegedly accepted around $5,000 for the job, in cash and also using a money transfer app.
The drugs were reportedly delivered to Michael Anthony Barquet, 37, and Francisco Montero, 25, who are currently incarcerated at the jail. They face charges for the scheme, along with coconspirators outside the jail who are accused of helping: Neca Silvestre, 38, of Kent; Katrina Cazares, 38, of Burien; and Kayara Zepeda Montero, 27, of Seattle.
Specifically, they face five federal felonies, including two counts of bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery, drug possession with intent to distribute, and conspiracy to distribute drugs. The four defendants not in custody were arrested Thursday morning, and were in U.S. District Court in Seattle at 2 p.m. They pled not guilty and their trial has been set for Jan. 8, 2024.
RELATED: Jail reserved for exceptional cases, as Seattle’s new drug law takes effect
“Fentanyl and meth are horribly destructive in our community, and our correctional institutions are not immune," Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman said in a statement. "The challenge of keeping inmates safe is made much more difficult when correctional staff betray their positions of trust and authority. "
Gorman credited King County law enforcement officials and the FBI for working quickly to identify the people involved in the smuggling conspiracy.
Richard A. Collodi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Seattle office said that local partners in the investigation, which included the King County Jail, Sheriff's Office and Prosecutor's Office, "identified the actions of an employee and brought the case to our attention which resulted in a successful joint investigation."
King County Executive Dow Constantine said in a statement that "the charges against this former employee and his co-conspirators tarnish the work that our corrections officers do every day to serve their community with professionalism and the highest standards of care."
"The public can count on King County to continue doing everything we can to stop fentanyl and other contraband from entering our correctional facilities," his statement continues.
RELATED: Suicide and staffing issues at King County Jail, ‘a radioactive subject’
