A former juvenile detention centre employee has been jailed for 50 years after stealing $1.2m (£974,000) worth of fajitas over a period of nine years.

Gilberto Escamilla, 53, arranged for deliveries of the Mexican meal to the Darrell B Hester Juvenile Detention Centre where he worked, but would sell them on himself the same day.

He was caught out last August when he took the day off to go to a medical appointment.

The centre's meat supplier called to confirm an order of 880lbs of fajitas, and the employee who answered informed them the centre doesn't serve the spicy snack.

The supplier had been delivering similar orders for nine years, and officers found stacks of fajitas in Escamilla's fridge.


He was fired and arrested the next day.

Image: The centre where he worked in Texas

He admitted theft by a public servant on Friday and was jailed for 50 years.

According to the Brownsville Herald, he said: "It was selfish. It started small and got bigger and out of control.

"It got to the point where I couldn't control it anymore."

After the arrest last year, District Attorney Luis V Saenz said: "If it wasn't so serious, you'd think it was a Saturday Night Live skit. But this is the real thing."

Cameron County Assistant District Attorney Peter Gilman said the five-decade sentence would send a strong message to employees of the county.

Escamilla said goodbye to his family before he was taken down to begin his sentence.