By The Vanguard Staff
SACRAMENTO, CA – A federal indictment this week charges CA State Prison, Sacramento correctional Officer Brenda Villa conspired to falsify records and lied to a federal grand jury in the death of inmate Ronnie Price after he was attacked by guard Arturo Pacheco in 2016.
Pacheco, who was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison, admitted he knocked Price, 65, to the ground as Price was handcuffed. Price, who hit his head when he fell, died a few days later in a local hospital.
Federal prosecutors said Pacheco and another guard, Ashley Marie Aurich, covered up the incident, and Villa is being accused of communicating “orally and by email with CDCR officers” according to the indictment to try to conceal who was present when former Officer Pacheco assaulted Price.
While Pacheco is due to report for the start of his prison time Jan. 10, Aurich has been sentenced to 21 months in prison after cooperating in some as yet unknown way with the prosecution.
Villa is being held, for now, in custody.
The Villa indictment unsealed details of how Villa ordered Officers Pacheco and Aurich to take Price to another cell at the prison. Three other unnamed guards were also present
The indictment alleges Villa, Pacheco and others wrote reports to hide the names of another officer present, and Villa “signed and finalized the false reports,” according to a Sacramento Bee story.
Villa also allegedly didn’t tell the truth to a federal grand jury in 2020 when Villa said only Aurich was at the scene of the crime—in fact, the grand jury said three other guards were there. 
