Former Corrections Officer Pleads Guilty to Bribery Charge
Contract Employee Took Cash to Smuggle Items into D.C. Correctional Treatment Facility

WASHINGTON—Daishawn Goodson, a former corrections officer, pled guilty today to a bribery charge for accepting money to bring contraband into a District of Columbia correctional facility, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen, Jr. and Debra Evans Smith, Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

Goodson, 26, pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The Honorable Beryl A. Howell scheduled sentencing for March 22, 2013. The charge carries a maximum statutory penalty of 15 years in prison and a fine. Goodson has agreed to a $1,000 forfeiture judgment.

According to the government’s evidence, Goodson was employed by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) as a corrections officer at the District’s Correctional Treatment Facility. CCA, a private company, has a contract to provide services to the D.C. Jail. In January 2012, she made a telephone call to a person, whom she believed was an associate of an inmate. In fact, however, that person was an undercover agent with the FBI. During the call, Goodson agreed to smuggle a computer thumb drive to an inmate at the corrections facility in return for cash.

Goodson met the undercover agent on January 10, 2012, near the Eastern Market. Goodson agreed to bring the thumb drive and $100 to the inmate in return for $400. The undercover agent handed Goodson the thumb drive and $500. On January 18, 2012, Goodson and the undercover agent had another meeting near Eastern Market and discussed the fact that the first attempt to smuggle the thumb drive and currency into the facility went well. Goodson agreed to smuggle another computer thumb drive and $100 into the facility in return for $400. Once again, the undercover agent gave Goodson a thumb drive and money. Goodson left the meeting and was subsequently arrested.

In announcing the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Machen and Acting Assistant Director in Charge Smith commended the work of the agents who investigated the case from the FBI’s Washington Field Office. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the District of Columbia Department of Corrections Office of Investigative Services. Finally, they acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Nicole Wattelet and Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth B Waxman, who is prosecuting the case.