Pioneer Press
STILLWATER, Minn. - A former Minnesota corrections officer teamed up with an inmate to smuggle methamphetamine into the state prison in Stillwater.
Faith Rose Gratz, 24, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, according to a news release issued by the office of Andrew Luger, U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.
Gratz worked with 34-year-old Axel Rene Kramer, who is serving a 24-year sentence at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater for second degree murder, to acquire wholesale quantities of meth from suppliers outside the prison, the news release said.
She then used her position as a prison guard to smuggle the packages into the facility and pass them to Kramer, who distributed the drugs to fellow inmates, according to the release. The pair, who also had a romantic relationship, made six such exchanges.
Law enforcement officials discovered the conspiracy when they searched Kramer’s cellphone. They also discovered a half-pound of meth in Gratz’s car after confronting her about the conspiracy.