D.C. Corrections Officer Charged with Embezzlement

Defendant Accused of Stealing from Labor Union while Serving as its Chairman

            WASHINGTON – A District of Columbia Department of Corrections Officer was arrested today after being charged in federal court with embezzling tens of thousands of dollars from a D.C. Department of Corrections Labor Union.

            Andra Parker, 64, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, is charged with wire fraud in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He was arrested this morning at the District’s Central Detention Facility and will make his initial appearance this afternoon before Magistrate Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya.

            The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs, of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Troy W. Springer, of the Washington Regional Office, U.S. Department of Labor - Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG)            .

            Charging documents allege that between June 2018 and May 2019, Parker served as chairman of the D.C. Department of Corrections Labor Committee, a labor organization that represents all members of the D.C. Department of Corrections. As chairman, Parker had full access to the Labor Committee’s bank accounts and was issued a debit card. He is accused of defrauding the Labor Committee by using Committee funds to pay for personal travel, lodging, and entertainment expenses. For example, charging documents allege that he spent more than $7,000 on a trip to New York city for his friends and him, including $4,000 on rooms and expenses at a Times Square hotel, more than $370 on tickets to a New York Knicks game, and an additional $616 on tickets to Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.

            A criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct for purposes of establishing probable cause, but it is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.         

            This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the DOL-OIG. Assistance was also provided by the DOL - Office of Labor-Management Standards.

            This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kondi Kleinman and Gauri Gopal of the Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section, with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Michon Tart.