SEATTLE — A former King County jail guard pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to bribery and smuggling methamphetamine and fentanyl pills into the facility.
Mosses Ramos, 40, of Milton was a King County jail guard for 17 years before he was fired in 2023. The United States Attorney's Office said Ramos will be sentenced Sept. 13 for his role in the alleged scheme. He will face up to 20 years in prison.
According to court records, Ramos accepted bribes between March and May 2023 to bring about a pound of methamphetamine and 100 fentanyl pills into the jail for the benefit of inmates Michael Anthony Barquet, 37, and Francisco Montero, 25. Montero is facing trial in King County Superior Court for a double homicide, while Barquet is scheduled for trial on drug and bribery charges in October, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Ramos was among six people federally indicted in November for the alleged scheme involving smuggling meth and fentanyl into the facility.
Authorities said the web of bribes and drug trafficking extended outside the jail with three female coconspirators alleged to be associates of the two inmates: Neca Silvestre, 38, of Kent; Katrina Cazares, 38, of Burien; and Kayara Zepeda Montero, 27, of Seattle. All three defendants remain charged in the case. While Ramos has pleaded guilty to charges, the other defendants in the case have not and are presumed innocent until the court's ruling, the attorney's office said in a release.
According to the indictment, Ramos communicated to the two inmates sometime in March that he would smuggle the substances into the King County Jail in exchange for $5,000. Barquet and Cazares spoke over the phone on March 23 last year to coordinate the delivery of the drugs and the bribery payment to Ramos.
The following day, Zepeda gave Ramos the substances and the money for the bribery payment after speaking with the inmates over the phone. On the same day, Silvestre sent a bribe payment to Ramos through Cash app, according to the indictment.
Ramos smuggled the substances into the King County Jail on March 25, although the indictment did not specify how the drugs were brought in and delivered to the inmates. It is unclear how many times Ramos brought controlled substances into the jail but more than 50 grams of meth were smuggled into the King County Jail, according to the indictment. Investigators said the smuggling continued until at least May 3.
The U.S. Attorney's office said bribery is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, while drug distribution is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.