Federal Corrections Officer Paul Betancourt and Wife Sylvia Admit to Smuggling Contraband into Lompoc Correctional Facility

LOS ANGELES (KEYT) – Paul Betancourt, a former federal correctional officer in Lompoc, and his wife, Sylvia Betancourt, both pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to smuggle contraband to a federal inmate.

According to their plea agreement, while Paul was working as a correctional officer at Federal Correction Complex Lompoc when he agreed to provide contraband to an inmate.

The Betancourts acknowledged that on at least 13 separate occasions between May 2023 and September 2023 they met with or received payments from a Lompoc inmate or one of the inmate's intermediaries in exchange for the delivery of contraband including controlled substances detailed the couple's plea agreement in federal court.

According to federal prosecutors in Los Angeles, the payments ranged from $100 to as much as $1,500 and in total, the inmate paid the Betancourts at least $6,650 to smuggle the contraband.

The Betancourts are currently scheduled for a sentencing hearing on January 27, 2027, where they each face up to five years in federal prison noted the First Assistant's Office for the Central District of California.