OCALA, FL—United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the arrest of Robert L. Brown (32, Clermont) on a criminal complaint charging him with receipt of a bribe by a public official. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in federal prison. Brown was arrested late yesterday, and he has been released on a $25,000 bond pending resolution of the matter. Brown is employed as a corrections officer at the Coleman Federal Correctional Institution in Sumter County, Florida.

According to court documents, beginning in January 2015, Brown allegedly used his position as a corrections officer to begin accepting illegal monetary payments to smuggle contraband to inmates. On June 18, 2015, federal agents monitored a meeting between Brown and a cooperating witness. During that meeting, Brown accepted a $2,600 bribe for illegal items that he had already smuggled into the prison. When confronted by investigators, Brown admitted that he had illegally negotiated for $7,100 in cash payments, in return for smuggling cellular telephones, prescription pills, tobacco, and other items to federal inmates.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice—Office of the Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Bodnar, Jr.