A former electronics technician at 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 handed down an 87-month sentence to Steven M. Reminger, 53, following his guilty plea earlier this year to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of attempting to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances.
Reminger was caught on May 25, 2022, by U.S. Postal Inspectors with a package containing $4,000 in cash along with fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, K2, THC edibles, marijuana, knives, and cell phones. The investigation began after inmates notified prison officials about drug smuggling activities that followed several inmate deaths. According to court documents, a Missouri Department of Corrections investigator learned from an inmate that Reminger had arranged for drugs to be mailed under a fake name to a Post Office box in Farmington.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service determined that Reminger received approximately 12 packages at this P.O. box between November 13, 2021, and May 24, 2022. When questioned by authorities about the $4,000 found in the final package he collected, Reminger stated it was his compensation for bringing items into the prison. He claimed he never opened any of the individual packages and did not know their contents but admitted it was “possible” they contained something linked to inmate overdoses: “ignorance is bliss.”
Reminger surrendered $15,000 in cash earned from smuggling activities and used some proceeds to purchase a dune buggy and two trailers.
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.
