By Sarah Roebuck
Corrections1
WASHINGTON — A corrections officer and several others, including inmates and outside associates, have been charged in connection with a contraband operation at the D.C. Department of Corrections, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
According to prosecutors, the corrections officer allegedly facilitated the entry of contraband at the Central Detention Facility, also known as the D.C. Jail, in exchange for cash bribes. The items were reportedly used inside the jail to support unauthorized communication and potentially other illegal activities.
Court documents describe how inmates inside the facility communicated with external associates, who would supply contraband items such as a knife, cellphones and controlled substances. These items were concealed in plastic wrap in the middle of prepared food and put into Tupperware containers, the indictment said. The inmates would deliver the containers to the D.C. Jail, where a corrections officer would take possession of them. The corrections officer would then smuggle the containers into the facility and deliver the contraband to inmates within the housing unit where the officers worked, according to the indictment.
In the video below, Gordon Graham discusses how to combat contraband in correctional facilities.
On two occasions, the Department of Corrections Office of Investigative Services (OIS) intercepted contraband tied to the smuggling operation. On February 28, 2024, OIS recovered a bag delivered to the jail that was intended for pickup by a corrections officer, the indictment said. Inside the bag were two Tupperware containers containing various items, including a switchblade knife, an Apple iPhone, a USB iPhone charger, two pairs of eyeglasses, a bundle of marijuana wrapped in plastic, suspected tobacco, white rolling papers, a pair of gambling dice, damp sheets of bonded paper emitting a chemical odor, additional packages of marijuana wrapped in plastic and approximately 100 cigarettes packaged in clear plastic.
Additionally, on July 25, 2024, OIS conducted a sweep of the housing unit where the inmates involved in the operation were held. Officers recovered several items, including 269 blue pills containing 5F-ADB, a synthetic cannabinoid classified as a Schedule I controlled substance (120 of which were found in one inmate’s cell); 60 cigarettes soaked in an unknown liquid (40 of which were found in the same cell); 255 strips of Buprenorphine, a Schedule III narcotic controlled substance (170 found in the same cell); seven pieces of paper soaked in an unknown liquid substance; three cellular phones and additional cigarettes.
