Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that KISHA PERKINS, 43, of Waterbury, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to participating in a bribe scheme at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury (FCI Danbury) where she was employed.

“There is no tolerance for corrupt employees within the ranks of the Bureau of Prisons,” stated U.S. Attorney Daly. “Prison officials, like this defendant, will be held accountable in federal court. I commend the FBI and the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General for their diligence in uncovering this corrosive bribery scheme. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our investigative partners are committed to rooting out corruption at all levels of government.”

According to court documents and statements made in court, PERKINS was employed as a case manager at FCI Danbury. After receiving information about an alleged scheme to solicit and collect cash bribes from FCI Danbury inmates in exchange for a recommendation that inmates be released early to “halfway houses,” federal law enforcement initiated an undercover operation. As part of the operation, another FCI Danbury employee, working in an undercover capacity, told PERKINS about a scheme in which an inmate was purporting to make a cash payment in exchange for the inmate’s early release to a halfway house. In pleading guilty, PERKINS admitted to having participated in that scheme and also admitted that, in February 2014, she agreed to accept a pair of shoes or a Louis Vuitton pocketbook in return for aiding in the commission of the scheme by counseling the employee regarding the bribe scheme and failing to report the bribe scheme to prison officials.

PERKINS was arrested on March 14, 2014.

PERKINS pleaded guilty to one count of acceptance of a bribe by a public official, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 15 years and a fine of up to $250,000. She is scheduled to be sentenced on July 21, 2015.

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