Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that KISHA PERKINS, 43, of Waterbury, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 12 months and one day of imprisonment, followed by one year of supervised release, for participating in a bribe scheme at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury (FCI Danbury) where she was employed as a case manager.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in June 2013, PERKINS approached another FCI Danbury employee about an opportunity to participate in a scheme to solicit a cash bribe from an inmate at FCI Danbury in exchange for the inmate’s early release to a halfway house. At that time, PERKINS held the job title of “Unit Counselor” at FCI Danbury and did not have administrative authority to recommend inmates for early release. PERKINS explained that her co-worker was needed to complete the scheme because the co-worker had the administrative ability to recommend inmates for early release.

PERKINS’ co-worker declined to participate in the scheme, reported the incident to law enforcement and agreed to cooperate in the investigation, which included the use of numerous consensually recorded conversations.

In July 2013, under the direction of law enforcement, PERKINS’ co-worker told PERKINS that he/she had changed his/her mind and wanted to participate in the scheme. PERKINS informed her co-worker that a scheme involving the inmate who had been previously identified was no longer feasible. In February 2014, as part of an undercover scenario, PERKINS’ co-worker identified a second inmate as a possible candidate for the bribe scheme. PERKINS agreed to participate and, after extensive planning, on March 8, 2014, PERKINS and her co-worker traveled to a commuter lot off of Exit 28 on Interstate 84 to pick up a partial bribe payment of $5,000 in cash in a fast food bag that, as PERKINS believed, was to be dropped off by an acquaintance of the inmate.

PERKINS was arrested on March 14, 2014.

On April 27, 2015, PERKINS pleaded guilty to one count of acceptance of a bribe by a public official. In pleading guilty, PERKINS specifically admitted that she participated in the scheme and, in February 2014, agreed to accept a pair of shoes or a Louis Vuitton pocketbook in return for counseling the employee regarding the bribe scheme and failing to report the bribe scheme to prison officials.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Wines.