McALLEN — A man who once worked as a commissary officer at the East Hidalgo Detention Center in La Villa has been sentenced to federal prison for smuggling contraband into the facility.
Jayson Catalan, 37, of Mercedes, was sentenced to six months in prison, to be followed by six months of home confinement, after he admitted to smuggling food to inmates at the private prison.
Catalan had faced a sentence of between 12 to 18 months in exchange for his guilty plea to a single count of bribery of a public official. U.S. District Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa handed down a sentence at the lower end of the federal sentencing guideline recommendations after a lengthy discussion with Catalan’s defense attorney and federal prosecutors.
“I’m not condoning the stupid and bad thing that he did,” Hinojosa said before adding that Catalan’s job as a commissary officer didn’t put him in the type of sensitive or authoritative position that would have justified a longer sentence.
“I don’t think the guy who’s doing commissary is in charge of safety,” Hinojosa said.
According to federal prosecutors, Catalan smuggled fajita tacos to inmates while making his rounds delivering commissary items, such as bags of chips. But the government also alleged that Catalan had done more than smuggle homemade food.
“He was involved in the distribution of marijuana, as well,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Lynn Greenbaum during Wednesday’s sentencing hearing at the McAllen federal courthouse.
“There’s some information there was some marijuana in these chips,” she added.
But Catalan has not admitted to smuggling drugs into the prison. And the indictment against him — to which he pleaded guilty last March as part of an agreement he reached with prosecutors — makes no mention of the type of contraband he smuggled.
“There doesn’t seem to be any indication of drugs being a part of this,” Hinojosa said.
As for whether Catalan’s crime rose to a level that warranted a stiffer sentence, the judge disagreed with the prosecution there, too.
“Do I think that rises to the same level as someone who’s providing guns or something?” Hinojosa asked of Catalan’s smuggling of food before answering his own question with no.
Catalan was apologetic when given the opportunity to speak on his own behalf.
“For the past two years, I’ve had a lot of time to think about my mistakes,” Catalan said, reading from a statement.
Since his November 2019 arrest, he has found gainful employment and hopes to serve as a good example to his siblings, he said.
Later, when Hinojosa again asked if he would like to speak, Catalan became audibly emotional.
“I made a mistake. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t. … I do believe I’m on the right track again,” he said.
Though Hinojosa chose to hand Catalan a sentence at the low end of the federal sentencing guidelines recommendation, the judge nonetheless admonished the man for his crime.
“When action like yours is taken, it gives the view that there is corruption. … You have hurt the people that work there day in and day out,” Hinojosa said.
Catalan is among six former staffers who were charged in sequential indictments in November 2019. A seventh person was later charged in March 2020.
Former correctional officers Erasmo Loya, Domingo Gonzalez Hernandez and Jhaziel Loredo also pleaded guilty to bribery. Gonzalez Hernandez and Loredo were sentenced last spring, while Loya was sentenced earlier this month.
Another commissary worker, Brenda Alicia Fuentes, who served as a cook supervisor, pleaded guilty to performing oral sex on an inmate on several occasions. She was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison, but has since appealed the portion of her sentence which will require she register as a sex offender upon her release.
Fuentes’ daughter, Amber Marie Estrada, was arrested in March 2020, several months after the others. She pleaded guilty to bribery, including accepting a horse, in exchange for smuggling contraband into the prison.
She was sentenced to just over two years in prison.
Another former staffer, Veronica Ortega, who worked as a certified medical assistant, pleaded guilty to bribery and has yet to be sentenced.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Catalan’s sentence of six months in federal prison, followed by six months of home confinement, falls within the low end of the federal sentencing guidelines for his crime.
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