By Sam Stanton
The Sacramento Bee
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A former guard at California State Prison, Sacramento, who is charged in connection with the 2016 death of a handcuffed inmate and the subsequent cover-up has agreed to plead guilty and avoid a possible 60-year prison sentence, court papers say.
Arturo Pacheco is scheduled for a change of plea hearing Monday before Senior U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb in which he is expected to plead guilty to two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law and two counts of falsifying records in a federal investigation, according to a copy of the plea agreement filed in Sacramento federal court Thursday.
“The defendant will plead guilty to each count in the indictment,” the plea agreement Pacheco signed Thursday says. “The defendant agrees that he is in fact guilty of these charges.”
The plea agreement says prosecutors will recommend a sentence of no more than 12 years and seven months in prison.
Another guard from the facility known as New Folsom already has pleaded guilty in connection with the inmate’s death and an attempt to cover it up by filing phony reports.
Ashley Marie Aurich pleaded guilty in January 2021 to a single count of falsifying records in a federal investigation and is awaiting sentencing as she cooperates with federal prosecutors, court records say.
Pacheco and Aurich were indicted in November 2020 in connection with a Sept. 15, 2016, incident involving a 65-year-old inmate the two were escorting inside the prison, which is also known as New Folsom.
The inmate had his hands cuffed behind his back at the time and Pacheco suddenly yanked his legs out from under him, court papers say.
“During the escort, Aurich saw Pacheco bend down behind the inmate and pull the inmate’s legs out from under him,” U.S. Attorney Phil Talbert’s office wrote in a news release describing the incident. “This caused the inmate immediately to fall forward violently striking his head and upper torso on the concrete.
“The inmate-victim was taken to the ( UC Davis Medical Center) where he died approximately two days later.”
Court papers say that after treatment the inmate “appeared to be medically stable” but that after two days he experienced a pulmonary embolism while showering in his hospital room and died.
Prosecutors say the inmate suffered a broken jaw and teeth and that three other correctional officers were present at the time.
The incident occurred after the inmate stopped walking during the escort and Pacheco wrapped his arms around the inmate’s legs and pulled them backward, court records say.
Afterward, Pacheco and Aurich filed false reports claiming the inmate “spun to his left and lunged forward,” breaking Pacheco’s grip, court records say.
The reports also concealed the presence of one of the other guards, court papers say, to prevent that officer from submitting a report showing Pacheco assaulted the inmate.
Court documents do not name other guards who were present.
The guard omitted from Pacheco’s report eventually wrote an accurate report outlining Pacheco’s unnecessary use of force, but never filed it because Pacheco convinced that officer not to do so, court papers say.
A correctional sergeant never followed up on why that report was not submitted, and told one officer not to mention the presence of the guard Pacheco talked to because that guard and Pacheco had been involved in a use of force incident the week before “and it looked bad to have them involved in another incident so close in time,” court papers say.
At one point, Pacheco told one of the guards that the inmate “pissed (him) off” and so he “dumped” him, court papers say.
The phony reports included an assertion by Aurich that Pacheco had not “used immediate force” against the inmate and that the inmate had landed “on his stomach face down,” court papers say.
The indictment also says Pacheco was involved in a previous incident in which he filed a false report, this one from May 2016 when he pepper-sprayed an inmate he claimed was holding a piece of glass that Pacheco feared the inmate would use to harm himself.
Court papers say the inmate was not holding a piece of glass and that Pacheco summoned him closer, told him to open his eyes, then pepper sprayed him.
After that incident, Pacheco texted a friend, writing that he thought his actions were “funny” and that he “just wanted to spray him,” court papers say.
“It’s all about how u write ur report,” Pacheco wrote, according to court papers. “Plus ur partners have ur back.
“Blood, broken glass, n just u n ur partners ... Green light!”
Pacheco’s plea agreement notes that he received training at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Academy on when use of force is appropriate and “how and why to properly write truthful and complete reports.”
“Pacheco also learned that that the CDCR has a zero-tolerance policy for what is known as the ‘code of silence’ or the ‘Green Wall,’ which is the idea that correctional officers will not inform supervisors or authorities of misconduct committed by another correction officer, but will instead protect each other,” the plea agreement states.
CDCR officials say both guards were fired in June 2018 for misconduct and dishonesty and that corrections officials and the FBI investigated the case.
The prison has been the focus of an FBI investigation since 2016, with allegations that guards have planted drugs and weapons on inmates and conspired to help inmates attack other prisoners, including one who was stabbed to death in 2019 while handcuffed to a chair. Sources have told The Bee that attack was captured on video.
That death has spawned two federal civil rights lawsuits.
In addition, two correctional officers who came out as whistleblowers against other guards have died since the investigation began, one allegedly by an accidental drug overdose, the other in a case ruled a suicide.