A Stockton man who worked as a prison guard has pleaded guilty to cocaine possession and distribution, the U.S. attorney’s office in Sacramento said.
Fidel Andrade, 36, entered the plea Tuesday in a case that involved the sale of more than nine ounces of cocaine to an FBI “confidential source.” Additional cocaine was found at his Stockton residence in March 2021 during a search.
Andrade supplied cocaine to a co-defendant, Naftali Castillo Montes, between January and October 2020, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Montes pleaded guilty to the drug charges in July.
The cocaine case was unrelated to Andrade’s work as a California correctional officer, said Lauren Horwood, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office. She did not know which correctional facility he was assigned.
The investigation, however, included the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, along with U.S. Customs and Borders Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security, the FBI and the Tracy Police Department.
Andrade is scheduled for sentencing Jan. 14 by U.S. District Court Judge Kimberly J. Mueller. Both he and Montes face up to 20 years in prison.
Montes also faces charges in a separate indictment involving a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy.