Scandal-plagued FCI Dublin to receive semi-surprise visit from judge
The entrance to the Federal Correctional Institute Dublin.
OAKLAND, Calif. - A federal judge on Friday told the associate warden of the scandal-plagued Federal Correctional Institute at Dublin that she planned to visit the all-women's prison without much notice, so she can see how things operate.
U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers told Associate Warden Pat Deveney that she was going to email him one evening after 9 p.m. sometime this month and show up the next day at 5:30 a.m. or 6 a.m.
"I don't want you to prep for it," she said. "I just want to show up."
She said that she'd allow two staff members and two attorneys from the government and those representing sexual assault survivors to attend, but that she also might shoo them away so that she can talk to anyone in the building that she wants.
"And there won't be anything you can do other than follow me around," she said.
Then-Rep. Jackie Speier visited the prison in March 2022 and her staff said she was only allowed to speak to hand-picked incarcerated women.
Gonzalez Rogers is being asked by the California Coalition of Women Prisons to stop many of the harms reported at FCI Dublin, such as sexual abuse by the guards and retaliation for speaking up, and possibly appoint a "special master" over the facility to make sure reforms are being met.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Prisons attorneys maintain that while there used to be sex scandals at the prison, they are now part of a long-gone era because of new leadership.
US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers
However, that is also in question.
Deveney acknowledged at the hearing on Friday that five female managers were put on administrative leave this week.
One of those managers included Capt. Ericka Quezada, who testified during a hearing that staff now know that there will be zero tolerance for abuse.
"My integrity matters to me," she said at the hearing through tears. "I love my job. I love the good people I work with in Dublin. Coming here has been a challenge and a struggle. It wasn't an easy decision for me. But I am emotionally vested in this place."
Another manager included the SIS lieutenant who was in charge of the prison's unit tasked with hearing women's allegations.
The reason for the leave was not given.
Earlier this week, Gonzalez Rogers sentenced former FCI Dublin correctional officer Ross Klinger to one year home detention after having sex with three incarcerated women in 2020.
He received such a light sentence because he turned into a government informant, which helped secure the convictions of two other officers, including the former warden.
Klinger is now the sixth prison guard out of eight to be charged, convicted and sentenced for sex crimes at FCI Dublin – the most of any prison in the United States.
Lisa Fernandez is a reporter for KTVU. Email Lisa at lisa.fernandez@fox.com or call her at 510-874-0139. Or follow her on Twitter @ljfernandez