August 10, 2025 – OAKLAND, CA – Former Bureau of Prisons correctional officers Jeffrey Wilson and Lawrence Gacad pleaded guilty on Thursday, August 7, 2025, to sexually abusing female inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, Calif., which operated as a low-security federal prison for females. Wilson also admitted to making false statements to federal investigators.

Wilson and Gacad were charged by information on June 25, 2025. They are the eighth and ninth correctional officers to have either pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial as part of an ongoing federal investigation into sexual abuse of inmates at FCI Dublin.

“There is zero tolerance for federal correctional officers who violate their positions of trust and authority. And that is especially true where they use those positions to sexually abuse individuals in their custody,” said United States Attorney Craig Missakian. “Our investigations remain ongoing, and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who engages in these despicable acts.”

“The pattern of abuse of inmates at FCI Dublin is inexcusable. Gacad and Wilson’s guilty pleas are the eighth and ninth convictions of Federal Bureau of Prisons employees for sexually abusing inmates at that institution. The Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General will continue to aggressively investigate these heinous crimes, and with our partners, vigorously pursue justice for the victims of sexual abuse,” said Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (DOJ OIG) Acting Special Agent in Charge Jeremy Hunt.

“These guilty pleas mark yet another step toward accountability for a culture of predation that thrived for far too long behind the walls of FCI Dublin. Female inmates were exploited by those with power and access when they were most vulnerable,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani. “The FBI and our partners remain resolute in our work to expose every individual who used their position to harm, and to help restore the dignity stolen from the women who survived abuse.”

According to his plea agreement, Wilson was employed from July 2021 to September 2022 as a correctional officer at FCI Dublin, where he served as a health technician/paramedic. In that role, he was responsible for providing emergency assessment and medical care to the female inmates. Around August 2021, Wilson began interacting with a victim inmate after she started taking medication prescribed to her for seizures. He encouraged the victim to transfer from the prison to the FCI Dublin Camp where there were fewer medical staff who would see their interactions.

Wilson admitted to engaging in sexual acts on multiple occasions with the victim. He also provided the victim with a $60 pre-paid credit card and a cellphone while she was at the FCI Dublin Camp. The victim used that cellphone to take naked pictures of herself and send them to Wilson.

When he was interviewed by special agents from the DOJ OIG, Wilson falsely stated that he never had sexual contact with the victim inmate and that he had never given her contraband.

According to his plea agreement, Gacad was employed from July 2021 to June 2022 as a correctional officer at FCI Dublin. Between March and June 2022, Gacad kissed and groped a victim inmate. The victim lived in one of the housing units where Gacad was sometimes assigned as the guard on duty. Gacad also admitted that he exchanged handwritten notes and emails with the victim, some of which were sexually explicit. To disguise his identity, Gacad used email accounts that he set up using fake names.

Gacad resigned from the BOP after the abuse was discovered, but continued to exchange emails with the victim and speak with the victim on video chats that she had with her parents.

Both Wilson and Gacad were released on bond. Wilson is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 6, 2025, and Gacad is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 19, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.

Wilson faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each count of sexual abuse of a ward in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2243(b) and eight years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the count of false statements to a government agency in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2). Gacad faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the count of abusive sexual contact in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2244(a)(4). Any sentence will be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

Related: Two Additional Former FCI Dublin Correctional Officers Charged with Sexual Abuse of Female Inmates

Darrell Wayne Smith, a Former Federal Correctional Officer at FCI Dublin Faces 15 Additional Charges Involving Sexual Abuse of Five Female Inmates Including a Federal Civil Rights Violation

Seventh Correctional Officer at Federal Facility in Dublin Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison for Sexual Abuse of Female Prisoners

Former Correctional Officer Sentenced to 63 Months for Sexual Abuse of Two Female Inmates at FCI Dublin

Federal Correctional Officer from Clovis Sentenced to 96 Months for Sexually Abusing Multiple Female Inmates at FCI Dublin

Two More Federal Correctional Officers at FCI Dublin, California Plead Guilty to Sexually Abusing Multiple Female Inmates 

Jury Convicts Federal Correctional Officer from Alameda County for Sexual Abuse of Two Female Inmates in Dublin, California

Federal Correctional Officer at FCI Dublin, California Makes Federal Court Appearance To Face Charges Of Aggravated Sexual Abuse

Former Federal Prison Warden, Merced Resident Sentenced for Sexual Abuse of Three Female Inmates

Officer at Federal Correctional Institute in Dublin, California Charged for Abusive Sexual Contact with Female Inmate

As part of the Department of Justice’s ongoing investigation into FCI Dublin, 10 FCI Dublin correctional officers have been charged with crimes related to the sexual abuse of the female prisoners at the facility. The status of these cases is below:

Defendant	Case Number	Status
Warden Ray J. Garcia	4:21-cr-00429-YGR	Convicted on all counts by jury on Dec. 8, 2022; sentenced to 70 months in prison
CO John Bellhouse	4:22-cr-00066-YGR	Convicted on all counts by jury on Jun. 5, 2023; sentenced to 63 months in prison
CO Darrell Smith (a/k/a “Dirty Dick Smith”)	4:23-cr-00110-YGR	Indicted on Apr. 13, 2023; trial scheduled for Sept. 2, 2025
Chaplain James Highhouse	4:22-cr-00016-HSG	Pleaded guilty on Feb. 24, 2022; sentenced to 84 months in prison
CO Ross Klinger	4:22-cr-00031-YGR	Pleaded guilty on Feb. 10, 2022; sentenced to one year of home confinement
CO Enrique Chavez	4:22-cr-00104-YGR	Pleaded guilty on Oct. 27, 2022; sentenced to 20 months in prison
CO Andrew Jones	4:23-cr-00212-YGR	Pleaded guilty on Aug.17, 2023; sentenced to 96 months in prison
CO Nakie Nunley	4:23-cr-00213-YGR	Pleaded guilty on Sept. 5, 2023; sentenced to 72 months in prison
CO Jeffrey Wilson	4:25-cr-00180-YGR	Pleaded guilty on Aug. 7, 2025; sentencing scheduled for Nov. 6, 2025
CO Lawrence Gacad	4:25-cr-00181-YGR	Pleaded guilty on Aug. 7, 2025; sentencing scheduled for Nov. 19, 2025

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Paulson, Alethea Sargent, Sailaja Paidipaty, and Molly Priedeman are prosecuting these cases with the assistance of Veronica Hernandez, Soana Katoa, and Amala James. The prosecutions are the result of an investigation by the DOJ OIG and the FBI.

Source: DOJ Release