A former employee of the Eastern Reception Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, Missouri, has been sentenced to 87 months in prison for smuggling drugs and other contraband into the facility.
Steven M. Reminger, 53, worked as an electronics technician at the prison when he was caught by U.S. Postal Inspectors on May 25, 2022. Inspectors intercepted a package addressed to Reminger that contained $4,000 in cash along with fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, K2, THC edibles, marijuana, knives, and cell phones.
The investigation began after several inmate deaths prompted prisoners to alert officials about possible drug smuggling within the facility. According to information provided by inmates to a Missouri Department of Corrections investigator, Reminger arranged for drugs to be mailed under a false name to a Post Office box in Farmington, Missouri. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service determined that Reminger had received approximately 12 packages at this P.O. box between November 13, 2021 and May 24, 2022.
Reminger told inspectors that the $4,000 found in the final package was his payment for transporting the items into the prison. He claimed he never opened any of the packages and did not know their contents but admitted it was “possible” they contained substances linked to inmate overdoses. He said “ignorance is bliss.”
Reminger surrendered $15,000 in cash profits from his activities and used some proceeds to purchase a dune buggy and two trailers.
In April, Reminger pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of attempting to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.
The case was investigated by the Missouri Department of Corrections Office of Professional Standards, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Rebar prosecuted the case.
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