Former Dublin federal prison guard Lawrence Gacad will not be trading places with the people he once supervised. Instead, the ex-correctional officer at the now-shuttered Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin walked out of court with five years of probation and no prison time after pleading guilty to abusive sexual contact with an inmate.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers handed down the sentence last Wednesday, ordering that Gacad spend the first year of his probation on electronic monitoring at home. The case folds into the broader, years-long investigation into staff misconduct at the women’s prison, which has since been closed.
Judge imposes probation and ankle monitor
In court, Gacad admitted to kissing and exchanging written messages with a woman identified in filings as S.L. Judge Gonzalez Rogers sentenced him to five years of supervised probation, with the first year served on electronic home monitoring. Both prosecutors and defense attorneys told the court they agreed that a prison term was not necessary in this case.
Prosecutors said Gacad’s conduct did not involve penetration and that investigators found no evidence he threatened or intimidated the victim. According to KTVU, Gacad resigned from his position in 2022 following the allegations.
Plea agreement spelled out his conduct
Gacad pleaded guilty in August as part of a written plea agreement that, according to prosecutors, detailed kissing, groping, the exchange of handwritten notes and emails, and the use of fake email accounts to hide his identity. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oakland said investigators from the DOJ Office of the Inspector General and the FBI led the probe, and that Gacad continued having contact with the victim after he left the Bureau of Prisons…