Former Employee of Federal Court Contractor Sentenced for Bribery
Received Over $10,000 in Bribes to Falsify Over 100 Drug Tests of Federal Defendants

GREENBELT, MD—Chief U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Christopher Womack, age 43, of Forestville, Maryland, today to three years’ probation, of which nine months are in home confinement, for bribery in connection with a scheme to accept bribes from individuals charged or convicted of federal crimes to falsify urine tests.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Chief Mark A. Magaw of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

“The integrity of our judicial system is compromised when people who work for the federal court take bribes from criminals,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.

Womack was a urine technician at ADR, a company that provides alcohol and drug treatment services, at ADR’s Forestville facility. U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services in Maryland contracted with ADR to test the urine samples of individuals who were on pretrial release, supervised release, parole, or probation for the presence of controlled substances. U.S. Probation relied on the urine test results prepared by ADR to supervise individuals charged with or convicted of federal crimes and to prepare reports to the U.S. District Court or the Parole Commission, who in turn relied on the reports to make release and sentencing decisions.

According to his guilty plea, starting no later than January 2011, Womack misused his position as a urine technician in exchange for cash payments from ADR clients who were federal defendants on supervised release. For example, Womack accepted a $50 bribe payment from one individual for each of three urine tests in January and February 2012. Numerous other federal defendants on supervised release paid $50 per test bribes in exchange for Womack not testing them and agreeing to not properly inform U.S. Probation. Womack at times was assisted by co-conspirator Lauren Diggs, who was also an ADR employee.

Many of the federal defendants who paid bribes had significant criminal histories and had been in fact ingesting controlled substances while on supervised release. In total, Womack accepted more than 100 individual bribe payments and received more than $10,00 in bribe payments.

Lauren Jeannette Diggs, age 50, of Rockville, Maryland, previously pleaded guilty to the bribery conspiracy and for falsely testifying before a grand jury investigating the bribery scheme. Chief Judge Chasanow scheduled her sentencing for April 22, 2013.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FBI and the Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan Lenzner and James A. Crowell, IV, who are prosecuting the case.

Mr. Rosenstein thanked District of Maryland Chief U.S. Probation Officer William Henry for bringing the allegations to the attention of federal law enforcement.