SOLEDAD — A former state prison guard pleaded guilty Tuesday to smuggling wireless communication devices and tobacco products into a Soledad correctional facility in exchange for nearly $100,000 in payments from an inmate, federal prosecutors said.
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Matthew Madsen, 40, of Greenfield, was charged with one count of honest services fraud on Feb. 24.
In pleading guilty to the count, Madsen admitted he was employed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or CDCR, from 2017 to 2025, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He was assigned to the Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad and held several ranks, including correctional lieutenant.
As a correctional lieutenant, Madsen often served as a supervisor for an entire yard of the prison, including roughly 1,000 inmates and 200 staff members, prosecutors said.
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CDCR employees are barred from bringing wireless communication devices and tobacco products into prisons, but Madsen worked with others, including at least one inmate, to smuggle both into SVSP between January 2023 and February 2025, prosecutors said. In exchange, he received more than $95,000 in cash payments and wire transfers.
Prosecutors said Madsen admitted wireless communication devices are problematic in prisons because they can be used by inmates to coordinate violent attacks, as well as the smuggling and trafficking of contraband.
Madsen faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 when he is sentenced on Feb. 9.
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