A federal jury convicted former prison warden Ray J. Garcia of seven counts involving sexually abusive conduct against three female victims, authorities announced Thursday.
The victims were serving prison sentences and one count of making false statements to government agents
Garcia, 55, of Merced, California, was initially charged with sexual abuse of an inmate on Sept. 24, 2021.
A federal grand jury issued a superseding indictment on Aug. 23, 2022, charging Garcia with three counts of sexual abuse and four counts of abusive sexual contact against three female inmates.
The criminal acts were alleged to have occurred from December 2019 to July 2021.
The superseding indictment also charged Garcia with one count of making false statements to a government agency during the investigation of the criminal acts.
Thursday, a jury convicted Garcia of all counts.
“Today’s guilty verdict is one important step in our ongoing efforts to root out sexual misconduct within the Bureau of Prisons,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “It also delivers justice to the victims in this case, who were repeatedly subjected to the defendant’s egregious sexual abuse and gross exploitation of power.”
Trial evidence showed that Garcia was employed as an associate warden and later as the warden of the Federal Correctional Institute in Dublin, Calif. (FCI Dublin), an all-female low-security federal correctional institution.
All three of the victims were incarcerated and serving their prison sentences at FCI Dublin under Garcia’s custodial, supervisory, and disciplinary authority when the crimes occurred.
According to the complaint, Garcia physically assaulted the woman, and when she pushed his hand away, he placed her hand on his genitals.
Garcia, a Merced resident, also asked her and at least one other inmate to strip naked for him when he made his rounds, prosecutors say, adding that he also displayed photos of his genitals to the women he is accused of assaulting.
A search of Garcia’s work cellphone and computer yielded hundreds of sexually graphic photographs, including images of male and female genitalia and nude photographs of Garcia, according to court records.
Prosecutors say that to prevent the inmate from reporting his behavior, Garcia told her that he was “close friends” with the person responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct by inmates and that he could not be fired.
The jury convicted Garcia of three counts of sexual abuse, and one count of sexually abusive contact against an inmate referred to as Victim 1.
Trial evidence showed that Garcia’s sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact against Victim 1 began in December 2019 and extended through March 2020.
The jury lastly convicted Garcia of making false statements to a government agency on July 22, 2021.
On that date, Garcia was interviewed by government law enforcement agents during the investigation of his sexual conduct with inmates.
Evidence at trial showed that Garcia falsely claimed he had never asked inmates to be undressed for him at a specific time and that he had never touched an inmate inappropriately.
Trial evidence showed that Garcia had already asked multiple inmates to undress for him and had also touched Victim 1, Victim 2, and Victim 3 sexually.
Garcia was convicted of three counts of sexual abuse of a ward, and each count carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 15 years.
The jury convicted Garcia of four counts of abusive sexual conduct, and each count carries a maximum term of two years imprisonment.
The jury also convicted Garcia of making false statements to a government agency, which carries a maximum sentence of eight years imprisonment.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who presided over the trial, set a sentencing date for March 8. Garcia remains out of custody pending his sentencing hearing.
DOJ-OIG and the FBI are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Molly Priedeman and Andrew Paulson for the Northern District of California, with the assistance of Madeline Wachs, Leeya Kekona and Sara Slattery are prosecuting the case.