Twin Brothers Plead Guilty to Bribery Following Arrests in Undercover Sting
Approached Two Police Officers in Hopes of Getting Drug Case Dismissed

WASHINGTON—Two Northeast Washington men, Larry Moody and his twin brother, Garry Moody, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to bribery of a public official, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., Shawn Henry, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Cathy L. Lanier, chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). Larry Moody also pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute heroin within 1,000 feet of a school.

Larry and Garry Moody, 39, are scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 11, 2011, before the Honorable Richard W. Roberts. Both men face up to 15 years of incarceration for the bribery offense, and Larry Moody also faces up to 40 years of incarceration for the narcotics offense. The court ordered that both men be held without bond pending their sentencing.

According to the government’s proffer of evidence at the plea hearing, Larry Moody was arrested Feb. 12, 2009 after he was observed by undercover officers from the Metropolitan Police Department preparing to sell heroin to two men in the 1200 block of I Street SE. He was charged in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia with possession with intent to distribute heroin. Thereafter, Larry Moody conspired with his brother Garry to approach two other MPD officers for the purpose of offering them money in exchange for their assistance in obtaining the dismissal of the narcotics case against Larry Moody in Superior Court.

The two MPD officers who were approached by the Moody brothers contacted the FBI and advised agents of the brothers’ bribery scheme. Working in conjunction with the FBI agents, the police officers participated in an undercover sting operation. On March 5, 2009, one of the undercover MPD officers met with Garry Moody at a restaurant in Northwest Washington, during which Garry Moody paid the officer $8,000 in cash for the purpose of obtaining the dismissal of his brother’s narcotics case.

In announcing the guilty pleas, U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director Henry, and Chief Lanier praised the work of MPD Officers Sherrie Forrester and Michael Jewel, as well as FBI special agents and Task Force Officer Scott Brown. They also praised the work of employees in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including former paralegal Mia Beamon and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven B. Wasserman and Kenneth Whitted, who indicted and prosecuted the case.