A former Missouri state prison employee has confessed to the illegal smuggling of drugs and weapons into a correctional facility. Steven M. Reminger, a 53-year-old electronics technician at the Eastern Reception Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, pleaded guilty to charges involving the distribution of controlled substances and the possession with the intent to distribute, as outlined in a report by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Missouri.
During the legal proceedings in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, Reminger admitted to using a Post Office box under an assumed identity to receive drug shipments. The case garnered attention when multiple inmate drug overdoses set off an investigation, which eventually to implicated the former employee. According to the Justice Department's statement, inmates tipped off authorities that Reminger was their source inside the prison.
An inspector with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service uncovered that approximately 12 parcels were delivered to Reminger's P.O. box between November 2021 and May 2022. Officials apprehended Reminger following the collection of a parcel which, upon examination, was found to contain a sizable mix of drugs, knives, and cell phones, all vacuum-sealed within. "Ignorance is bliss," Reminger confessed, as he claimed to have avoided any knowledge of the contents he smuggled. Yet, as he faced the judge, Reminger acknowledged his "deliberate ignorance," a factual detail obtained from the U.S. Attorney's Office statement.
The financial benefits of Reminger’s crimes have not gone unnoticed. In his admission, he indicated to have generated no more than $50,000 from the scheme, using parts of these ill-gotten gains to purchase a dune buggy and two trailers. His cooperation with the investigation also led him to surrender $15,000 in cash found at his residence. Reminger now faces sentencing on July 24, with each charge carrying the possibility of up to 20 years behind bars and a fine of $1 million, or both, according to a report by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
In the continued effort to thoroughly investigate this breach of trust and security, the Missouri Department of Corrections Office of Professional Standards, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol remain actively involved in the probe, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Rebar leads the prosecution.
