Deputy gets 6 years for smuggling meth into jail in KFC meal

It’s six years in prison for the El Paso County deputy who pleaded guilty to bribery and contraband charges after smuggling meth inside a KFC meal into the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center.

Steven D’Agostino, the now-former deputy, was originally facing charges of unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, introducing contraband, and official misconduct. He was sentenced Wednesday in Colorado Springs after pleading guilty back in September. He’ll also serve five years of parole after his prison sentence.

“It’s unacceptable to have this kind of behavior,” said his boss, El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder.

Judge William Bain said he wanted to make sure he’s sending out the message to the community that this issue is being dealt with appropriately and severely. Despite touting D’Agostino’s military and law enforcement career, Bain said it was important to send that message.

According to court documents, an El Paso County deputy got a tip from an informant that D’Agostino, 35, was smuggling drugs into the CJC. The informant said D’Agostino communicated with “associates of inmates outside of the jail” by email, and they would arrange meetings to provide narcotics concealed in food products.

The informant told the detective that D’Agostino would be paid $1,500 per transaction in exchange for bringing the drugs into the jail.

On June 12, El Paso County dispatch got an anonymous phone call saying that an inmate named Eloy Sanchez was working to arrange a deal to smuggle drugs inside. That’s when deputies started monitoring Sanchez’s calls, according to the arrest affidavit.

Sanchez pressured a woman to deliver a chicken meal to the CJC later that day. The affidavit says he referred to “Burrito” being “here,” and the woman confirmed the nickname by asking “D’Agostino?” Later on, investigators learned that there would possibly be drugs concealed in mashed potatoes with the meal.

After learning about the delivery, investigators had the CJC front desk technician alert them if any food was brought to the CJC for D’Agostino. According to the affidavit, D’Agostino called the front desk and said he was expecting a delivery.

Court documents say a woman — who hasn’t been identified at this time — delivered a KFC meal for D’Agostino at 12:51 p.m. D’Agostino was notified of the delivery, but he didn’t pick it up until after 2 p.m. that day.

Police say D’Agostino got the meal at 2:07 p.m. and was stopped in the main hallway at 2:08 p.m. He was taken to an interview room, and police took the meal as evidence. After getting a search warrant for the KFC containers, police found 7.5 grams of methamphetamine inside a balloon in one of them.

During the interview, D’Agostino made “several incriminating admissions,” according to the affidavit, but he stopped short of admitting to knowing about narcotics hidden in the meal. However, he did admit to bringing contraband into the jail for inmates and said he had been asked by inmates to bring meth for them. D’Agostino also admitted to owning the email account that was linked to the drug deals.

In addition to facing criminal charges, D’Agostino has since been fired from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, a spokesperson confirmed to KRDO. He joined the sheriff’s office in 2013.

Sheriff Elder said he’s happy with the judge’s ruling and said he won’t tolerate this kind of behavior in the office.

“I expect more from my staff… this was a betrayal of our trust,” said Elder. “We are held to a higher standard.”

He also said he wanted Judge Bain to see his staff in the courtroom to show how strongly they all feel about the matter.