PRISON GUARD PLEADS GUILTY TO ACCEPTING $2,000 BRIBE

A prison guard has pleaded guilty to charges of accepting a $2,000 bribe to
smuggle 2 pounds of marijuana to an inmate at the Lompoc Federal Penitentiary.

John Scott Brooks was arrested before he could bring the contraband, which
had been packed into cracker boxes, into the prison. He had planned to put
the cracker boxes in a trash closet, where they would be retrieved by the
inmate, according to court documents. The inmate's identity has not been
disclosed.

Brooks, 28, of Lompoc, pleaded guilty on Feb. 25 in a Los Angeles federal
courtroom to one bribery count. His defense attorney and a prosecutor
agreed the appropriate sentence in Brooks' case would be between six months
and one year in prison, but Judge J. Spencer Letts is not bound by that
agreement when he sentences Brooks, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the
U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles.

"The sentence could be different," Mrozek said, if Letts determines there
are other factors that need to be considered.

Brooks, who apparently has no prior criminal record, remains free on
$25,000 bail pending his sentencing hearing on May 23.

In early January, Brooks "contacted the inmate's girlfriend to make
arrangements for delivery of the marijuana and the $2,000 bribe payment,"
according to the written plea agreement signed last month by Brooks, his
defense attorney and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Andrues. The document
says Brooks was arrested on Jan. 8 in Santa Maria after he met the woman
and an undercover agent at a shopping center parking lot, where he received
the bribe and the marijuana.

Authorities have refused to disclose how they learned of the smuggling scheme.

Gene Moskovitch, a Santa Monica defense attorney representing Brooks, could
not be reached Tuesday for comment on the case.

Although the maximum possible sentence for a U.S. prison guard accepting a
bribe is 15 years, federal sentencing guidelines that apply in Brooks' case
call for a sentence of six to 12 months in prison, Mrozek and Andrues said.
"That's calculated based on our preliminary examination of the sentencing
guidelines," Andrues said.

That presumes, she said, that Brooks has no prior criminal record and that
he has fully accepted responsibility for his crime by the time he's sentenced.

The investigation leading to Brooks' arrest was conducted by the Santa
Maria office of the FBI and the Santa Barbara Regional Narcotic Enforcement
Team, with assistance from penitentiary investigators. His arrest also
involved sheriff's deputies, Santa Maria police, and the California Highway
Patrol.

Brooks resigned from his job as prison guard on Thursday, according to Joe
Henderson, executive assistant at the Lompoc Penitentiary.