Former San Quentin guard sentenced for smuggling

A former San Quentin corrections officer was sentenced to 20 months in prison for smuggling contraband into Death Row, the Department of Justice announced Friday.

Keith Christopher, 38, of Pittsburg pleaded guilty to the crimes in September and admitted to accepting payments in exchange for smuggling at least 25 cell phones into San Quentin in 2019 and 2020. Cell phones, which are prohibited for inmates under the California Code of Regulations, are considered contraband because of the safety risks they pose to prison employees and inmates.

In addition to his prison sentence, a judge ordered three years of supervised release once Christopher gets out of prison.

Christopher admitted in his plea agreement that on two occasions he delivered cell phones and accessories, such as chargers, to an inmate on Death Row, who then sold the phones to other inmates. The first transaction, involving coconspirators Tanisa Smith-Symes, Dustin Albini and Isaiah Wells, occurred in December 2019 when the inmate arranged for 10 cell phones to be shipped to the Nevada residence of Symes who then sent the phones to Albini, a Pittsburg resident, to deliver to Christopher.

After Christopher received the phones, he smuggled them into the prison to the inmate. In exchange, Christopher received $5,000 through Venmo and Walmart money transfers from Albini and Wells.

Christopher facilitated a second agreement with the same inmate in May 2020 to smuggle 15 cell phones into the prison. The phones were sent to SmithSymes again, who sent them to Wells in Tracy, who then delivered them to Christopher. Christopher delivered the phones to the inmate for $6,500.

Christopher has until May 25 to surrender to begin his prison term, the Department of Justice said. Wells, Albini and SmithSymes were charged along with Christopher in 2021 for conspiracy to commit honest services fraud as well as other charges for their roles in the scheme.