Bay Area

Former Warden Gets 70 Months for Crimes At Dublin Prison

A former warden of a women’s prison in Dublin was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Oakland to nearly six years in prison following his conviction on sex-related crimes. Ray Garcia, 55, of Merced, was sentenced to 70 months in prison after being convicted Dec. 8 for sexually abusive conduct against three inmates and for lying to federal agents, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Published

2 months ago

March 27, 2023

Oakland Post

Garcia was the warden of the Federal Correctional Institute Dublin, a low-security all-women's prison. Garcia was convicted of sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact with one victim and abusive sexual contact with two others between December 2019 and July 2021, federal prosecutors said.

By Keith Burbank
Bay City News

A former warden of a women’s prison in Dublin was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Oakland to nearly six years in prison following his conviction on sex-related crimes.

Ray Garcia, 55, of Merced, was sentenced to 70 months in prison after being convicted Dec. 8 for sexually abusive conduct against three inmates and for lying to federal agents, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Garcia was the warden of the Federal Correctional Institute Dublin, a low-security all-women’s prison.

Garcia was convicted of sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact with one victim and abusive sexual contact with two others between December 2019 and July 2021, federal prosecutors said.

Garcia was also convicted of making false statements to government agents on July 22, 2021.

Garcia also lied at trial. But on Wednesday for the first time, he took responsibility for his actions.

“I placed myself in this situation,” Garcia told U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who handed down the sentence Wednesday morning at the federal courthouse on Clay Street in Oakland.

“I didn’t show strength, discipline or character,” he said.

He commended the women for coming forward and said he hasn’t earned the right to call the victims by their first names.

“I couldn’t be more ashamed,” Garcia said.

Gonzalez Rogers weighed heavily that Garcia finally took responsibility. The judge cited similar cases in which offenders received 80 or even 100 months in custody. James Highhouse, the former chaplain at the women’s prison in Dublin, received 84 months, Gonzalez Rogers said.

“It was a critical important step,” the judge said about Garcia’s decision to accept responsibility.

Garcia waived his right to an appeal. He must appear May 19 to enter custody and he must pay restitution of $15,000 for therapy for his victims.

Two victims spoke at the sentencing.

“I pray I can heal from this,” said victim Melissa, who wanted Garcia taken away in handcuffs Wednesday.

“You molested my body,” Melissa said of Garcia. “You were a predator and a pervert.”

Melissa, whose last name isn’t being released because she is a crime victim, said Garcia showed her hundreds of pictures of his penis.

“You played God with my life,” Melissa said. “You sucked the life out of me.”

She looked at Garcia and told him she wants him to apologize.

In sentencing Garcia, Gonzalez Rogers aimed to deter others from the same behavior, while Garcia’s lawyer Kevin Little argued that Garcia should not be a poster boy.

Women sent to the prison in Dublin should expect that “they won’t be abused,” Gonzalez Rogers said.

As the warden, “you were supposed to be the check,” the judge said.

Gonzalez Rogers also weighed other factors when she sentenced Garcia. Garcia has a child with special needs, and he has helped his parents.

“I do understand you are very good to your family,” Gonzalez Rogers said. “That gets weighed.”

The judge described Federal Correctional Institute Dublin as a “cesspool” because of what’s been going on out there. She did not go into details.

But two other prison staff members in addition to Garcia and Highhouse have faced allegations of sexual misconduct. A year ago, seven members of Congress demanded an investigation into allegations of abuse and misconduct there.

Garcia entered the cesspool and “did nothing about it,” Gonzalez Rogers said.

“It needs to be stopped,” she said.

Following his prison term, Garcia must register as a sex offender.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 24 – 30, 2023

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 24 – 30, 2023

Published

2 days ago

May 26, 2023

Oakland Post

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 24 - 30, 2023

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Activism

Rise in Abductions of Black Girls in Oakland Alarms Sex-Trafficking Survivors

Nola Brantley of Nola Brantley Speaks states, “America’s wider culture and society has consistently failed to address the abduction and kidnapping of Black girls in Oakland and across the country, and this lack of concern empowers and emboldens predators.”

Published

1 week ago

May 20, 2023

Oakland Post

Nola Brantley and Sarai Smith-Mazariegos

By Tanya Dennis

Within the last 30 days there have been seven attempted kidnappings or successful abductions of Black girls in Oakland.

Survivors of human trafficking who are now advocates are not surprised.

Nor were they surprised that the police didn’t respond, and parents of victims turned to African American community-based organizations like Adamika Village and Love Never Fails for help.

Advocates say Black and Brown girls disappear daily, usually without a blip on the screen for society and government officials.

Perhaps that will change with a proposed law by state Senator Steven Bradford’s Senate Bill 673 Ebony Alert, that, if passed, will alert people when Black people under the age of 26 go missing.

According to the bill, Black children are disproportionately classified as “runaways” in comparison to their white counterparts which means fewer resources are dedicated to finding them.

Brantley, a survivor of human trafficking has been doing the work to support child sex trafficking victims for over 20 years, first as the director for the Scotlan Youth and Family Center’s Parenting and Youth Enrichment Department at Oakland’s DeFremery Park, and as one of the co-founders and executive director of Motivating, Inspiring, Supporting and Serving Sexually Exploited Youth (MISSSEY, Inc.)

“It really hit home in 2010,” said Brantley, “before California’s Welfare Institution Code 300 was amended to include children victimized by sex trafficking.”

Before that law was amended, she had to vehemently advocate for Black and Brown girls under the age of 18 to be treated as victims rather than criminalized.

Brantley served hundreds of Black and Brown girls citing these girls were victims so they would be treated as such and offered restorative services. “To get the police to take their disappearances seriously and file a report almost never happened,” she said.

Then Brantley received a call from the Board of Supervisors regarding a “special case.” A councilman was at the meeting, as well as a member of former Alameda County Board Supervisor Scott Haggerty’s Office who had called Brantley to attend.

“The child’s parents and the child were there also. They requested that I give my full attention to this case. The girl was white and there was no question of her victimization,” Brantley said.

Brantley felt conflicted that of all the hundreds of Black and Brown girls she’d served, none had ever received this type of treatment.

Her eyes were opened that day on how “they” move, therefore with the recent escalation of kidnapping attempts of Black girls, Brantley fears that because it’s happening to Black girls the response will not be taken seriously.

Councilwoman Treva Reid

“I thank Councilwoman Treva Reid and Senator Steven Bradford (D) for pushing for the passing of the Ebony Alert Bill across the state so that the disappearance of Black girls will be elevated the same as white girls. We’ve never had a time when Black girls weren’t missing. Before, it didn’t matter if we reported it or if the parents reported the police failed to care.”

Senator Steven Bradford

Sarai S-Mazariegos, co-founder of M.I.S.S.S.E.Y, and founder and executive director of Survivors Healing, Advising and Dedicated to Empowerment (S.H.A.D.E.) agrees with Brantley.

“What we are experiencing is the effects of COVID-19, poverty and a regressive law that has sentence the most vulnerable to the sex trade,” S-Mazariegos said. “We are seeing the lack of equity in the community, the cause and consequence of gender inequality and a violation of our basic human rights. What we are seeing is sexual exploitation at its finest.”

Both advocates are encouraged by Bradford’s Ebony Alert.

The racism and inequity cited has resulted in the development of an underground support system by Brantley, S-Mazariegos and other community-based organizations who have united to demand change.

Thus far they are receiving support from Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, and Oakland City Councilmembers Nikki Fortunato Bas and Reid of the second and seventh districts respectively.

For more information, go to http://www.blackandmissinginc.com