Ex-guard at Chesney gets jail for sex act

A Linda man convicted of having sex with a female inmate when he was a corrections officer in Live Oak was sentenced Friday to 120 days in jail.

The lawyer for Mark Stephen Susoeff called the crime "stupid." Sutter County Judge Chris Chandler said it was "beyond stupid. It's disgusting."

Susoeff, 45, who worked at the Leo Chesney Community Correctional Facility, received oral sex in January 2007 from an inmate near her locker in the early morning at the facility, according to Susoeff's probation report.

Chandler said Susoeff's actions undermine "every bit of legitimacy that the system has."

"You're going to have make amends for the institution that you have let down," said Chandler.

Texas-based Cornell Companies contracts with the California Department of Corrections to house about female offenders in the minimum-security facility.

"We feel strongly that any improper conduct should be punished," said Cornell spokesman Charles Seigel. Cornell hires people who have work experience but are new to corrections, Seigel said. The $10-an-hour pay Susoeff is said to have received is in the range of entry-level compensation, Seigel said.

Susoeff worked from 1993-2006 as a custodian for the Yuba County Superintendent of Schools and was paid $16 an hour, the probation report said.

Defense attorney Donald Wahlberg said Susoeff, who also was placed on three years probation, needs help with an alcohol problem. Susoeff's probation requirements include his completing alcohol counseling.

For the past 15 years, the Linda resident has consumed a case of beer on weekends and four to five beers after work, according to the probation report.

"Maybe if I quit drinking beer, I'll quit smoking, too," Susoeff said in the report.

Susoeff provided cigarettes and a Bic lighter to a female inmate who had witnessed his receiving oral sex, the probation report said. He supplied the contraband in exchange for her silence, according to the report.

The probation report also detailed Susoeff's actions in March 2007 with another inmate with whom he is said to have had oral sex and intercourse.

Susoeff initially denied allegations that he had sex with inmates and said he was angered by rumors from inmates at the facility. In an April 29 interview at the county Probation Department, Susoeff admitted to the first sexual encounter with the female inmate but denied sex with the second inmate in March 2007.

He said family problems and a stressful job left him "out of it."

"I didn't have a brain left," Susoeff stated.

He said he plans to move to the state of Washington but that his house here isn't selling.

"It's been one hit after another," Susoeff said in the probation interview. "You can only take so many hits and now my wall of defense is gone."

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Ryan McCarthy at 749-4707 or rmccarthy@appeal-democrat.com.