SAN QUENTIN — Until last August, Keith Randle had steady employment as a custodian at California’s oldest prison with more than a decade under his belt there.
But now, the 55-year-old Bay Area resident is facing federal charges alleging he attempted to smuggle drugs into San Quentin Rehabilitation Center and sell them to inmates at the facility formerly known as San Quentin State Prison.
He was arrested in late September and jailed until his first court appearance on Tuesday, where a judge agreed to release him while the case is pending, records show.
If convicted, Randle faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. His next court date has been set for Oct. 15.
Prosecutors say this case boils down to a simple jar of peanut butter.
On Aug. 15, Randle showed up to work around 8 a.m., but was promptly informed that his car and possessions were being searched, according to the criminal complaint. While San Quentin staffers must sign a search consent form, this was no routine event and prosecutors haven’t revealed whether prison authorities had received a tip about Randle’s alleged drug dealing.
Inside Randle’s backpack, a corrections sergeant allegedly found the peanut butter jar, but there wasn’t anything creamy or chocolatey inside. Rather, authorities say they found approximately 300 grams of methamphetamine and a smaller amount of cannabis oil. They also found $3,350 in cash, according to the criminal complaint.
Faced with this discovery, Randle claimed the jar wasn’t his. He allegedly told the officers that he’d mistakenly grabbed a colleague’s peanut butter jar and sandwich the day before and was planning to put it back in the refrigerator, apparently unaware of the contents, the complaint says.
Prosecutors aren’t buying his explanation. They say they’ve uncovered “well over” $75,000 in wire transfers that have come to Randle from either San Quentin inmates or their “associates,” including a woman married to a prisoner who paid Randle nearly $40,000 during a yearlong period starting in 2021. The woman also received approximately $93,000 in cash transfers from her husband and other San Quentin prisoners during the same time period, prosecutors allege.
Randle has worked at San Quentin since 2012, and received approximately $80,000 in pay and benefits last year, according to public payroll records. Prosecutors say that the suspicious wire transfers began in 2019.
