Guilty plea from inmate who 'discussed getting married' to Stillwater guard who sneaked meth to him

A man serving time for murder has admitted that he teamed up with a corrections officer to smuggle methamphetamine into Stillwater prison.

Axel R. Kramer, 36, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Paul last week to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in connection with their scheme inside Minnesota's largest high-security prison. The operation fell apart in April 2022.

Sentencing for Kramer has yet to be scheduled. The plea agreement pointed out that federal guidelines call for a 15-year prison term. However, federal judges have full discretion when sentencing defendants and are not bound by the guidelines calculation.

The corrections officer, Faith R. Gratz, 26, of Circle Pines pleaded guilty to the same count in November 2022. Her plea deal says federal guidelines point to a prison term ranging from nine to 11⅓ years in prison.

Kramer was sentenced in 2010 in Cottonwood County to a term of 24 years for aiding and abetting second-degree murder stemming from the shooting of Alberto Samilpa Jr., 20, of St. James, Minn., in 2007.

Corrections Department records show that Kramer was scheduled to be released from prison in about two months and then be put on supervised release until November 2031.

According to federal court documents:

Gratz also smuggled cellphones into the prison for Kramer; he used them to arrange the drug deals.

Kramer and Gratz exchanged hundreds of texts with each other about the drug smuggling "as well as discussions about their romantic relationship," read a statement issued Monday by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Gratz's cellphone number was saved on Kramer's phone as "Bbygirl." They "discussed … getting married once Kramer was out of prison," one of the court documents read.

She also warned him of impending searches of inmates' cells.

Prison officials received a tip that Kramer illegally had a cellphone, and the scheme was exposed.