SAN QUENTIN GUARD APPEARS IN COURT PLEA DELAYED ON COCAINE, HEROIN CHARGES

SAN QUENTIN-- A veteran San Quentin prison guard and leader in the
correctional officers' union was charged yesterday with attempting to
smuggle cocaine and heroin into the prison for sale.

Lee P. Beck was arrested Saturday in Pittsburg for possession for sale of
cocaine and heroin, transporting controlled substances and attempting to
bring a controlled substance into a prison.

Beck wore a yellow prison jumpsuit and stood with his arms folded across
his chest during his arraignment in Contra Costa Superior Court in
Martinez. Superior Court Judge Michael Coleman granted a request by Beck's
lawyer, Michael Markowitz, to postpone the proceeding until September 5.
Beck did not enter a plea and was ordered held on $120,000 bail.

After the hearing, Markowitz, who was retained by Beck's family, said he
has talked only briefly with Beck and needs more time to review the charges
before making any further comment.

Beck, who has been on paid administrative leave since his arrest, has held
a variety of positions at San Quentin, most recently in the prison's gym,
which serves as an open dorm where inmates sleep in bunks, said one prison
official.

Beck is also the vice president of the San Quentin chapter of California
Correctional Peace Officers Association. The chapter represents 700 officers.

Beck's arrest is part of a continuing criminal and administrative
investigation of drug smuggling at the prison being led by the California
Department of Corrections Office of Internal Affairs.

Department of Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said Beck is the sole
focus of the investigation.

"There are no other pending cases at San Quentin right now, although we did
have cases involving staff in November and December of 1998,'' said Thornton.

In those cases, a correctional officer and a cook were both prosecuted in
Contra Costa County for attempting to bring drugs into the prison.

But staff members account for only a small percentage of drugs that make
their way behind bars, Thornton said, citing a California Department of
Corrections study.

The study, covering the period from January 1998 to August 1999, found that
the major entry points for narcotics are inmate quarterly packages,
overnight and family visits and mail. Staff members accounted for less than
1 percent of the drug supply.

From July 1997 through August 1999, only five cases involved "on duty''
drug trafficking.

"Most of the cases come from packages or visitors. It's something that
we're striving to overcome,'' said Thornton. "We're always on the lookout
for illicit drugs in and out of our systems.''