Show-Me State Times

A former employee of the Eastern Reception Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, Missouri, has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison for smuggling drugs and other contraband into the facility.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey sentenced Steven M. Reminger, 53, to 87 months in federal prison. Reminger had worked as an electronics technician at the state prison when he was caught with a package containing $4,000 in cash and various forms of contraband including fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, K2, THC edibles, marijuana, knives and cell phones.

The investigation began after inmates alerted officials about drug smuggling following several inmate deaths. According to court documents, one inmate told a Missouri Department of Corrections investigator that Reminger arranged for drugs to be mailed to a Post Office box in Farmington under a false name. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service determined that between November 13, 2021 and May 24, 2022 Reminger received about twelve packages at that P.O. box.

Reminger admitted to postal inspectors that the $4,000 found in the final package was his compensation for transporting packages into the prison. He stated he never opened any individual packages or knew their contents but acknowledged it was “possible” they contained something linked to inmate overdoses. “Ignorance is bliss,” he said.

Reminger turned over $15,000 in cash earned from smuggling activities and used some proceeds to purchase a dune buggy and two trailers.

In April this year Reminger pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of attempting to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.

The case was investigated by the Missouri Department of Corrections Office of Professional Standards, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Rebar prosecuted the case.