Prison guard pleads guilty to smuggling phones, tobacco to inmates

A California corrections officer confessed Monday in Sacramento federal court to smuggling cell phones and tobacco into a Northern California prison in return for cash payments.

According to a written plea agreement, Bobby Joe Kirby received $15,635 in bribes via MoneyGram and Western Union from persons associated with inmates at the Lassen County facility between June 2010 and June 2011.

He pleaded guilty to depriving California of his honest services through the use of interstate wires.

Kirby, 53, and a resident of Reno, was a corrections officer at the California Correctional Center in Susanville. He was paid $66,849, including overtime, in 2010.

He was allowed to remain free Monday on a $25,000 unsecured bond pending sentencing Feb. 6 by U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb.