Former Corrections Officer Pleads Guilty To Bribery, Admits Taking Cash To Smuggle Contraband Into FacilitySecond Former Officer Earlier Pled Guilty In Related Case

     WASHINGTON - Lenard Fleming, 34, a former corrections officer who worked for the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), pled guilty today to a bribery charge for accepting  money to smuggle contraband into the District of Columbia’s Correctional Treatment Facility.

     The guilty plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr.; Andrew G. McCabe, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Thomas N. Faust, Director of the District of Columbia Department of Corrections.

     Fleming, of District Heights, Md., pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of bribery.  The Honorable Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson scheduled sentencing for Feb. 12, 2015. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Fleming faces a likely range of 24 to 37 months of incarceration, as well as a fine of up to $60,000.  Fleming is subject to forfeiture money judgment for money taken in the bribery scheme.

     According to the government’s evidence, Fleming had worked for the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) as a corrections officer at the Correctional Treatment Facility.  CCA, a private company, has a contract to provide services to the D.C. Jail.

     During the investigation, the FBI recovered contraband from an inmate at the Correctional Treatment Facility in January 2014. Fleming admitted that he smuggled items for the same inmate through that inmate’s contacts outside of the Correctional Treatment Facility. Fleming received cash payments in exchange for smuggling cigarettes and, on one occasion, an iPhone, into the Correctional Treatment Facility for delivery to the inmate. 

     Fleming was terminated by CCA in February 2014 following a complaint that he was smuggling contraband into the facility for another inmate.  CCA was presented with allegations that Fleming met several times with the wife of another inmate.  On each occasion, the inmate’s wife provided Fleming cash in exchange for Fleming smuggling cigarettes and synthetic marijuana into the facility and delivering it to the inmate. Fleming was arrested April 30, 2014.

     In a related investigation, another former corrections officer at the Correctional Treatment Facility, Darren Malry, 52, pled guilty on Oct. 17, 2014, to a bribery charge. According to the government’s evidence, on March 11, 2014, Malry smuggled contraband into the facility for an inmate.  Malry was arrested that day. Malry is to be sentenced Feb. 6, 2015.

     In announcing today’s plea, U.S. Attorney Machen and Assistant Director in Charge McCabe, and Director Faust commended the work of those who jointly worked the case, including agents from the FBI’s Washington Field Office, investigators from the District of Columbia Department of Corrections Office of Investigative Services, and investigators from the Corrections Corporation of America.  They also commended the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Donna Galindo, Corinne Kleinman, and Angela Lawrence; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melinda Williams, Todd Gee, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Dillon, who assisted in the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Catherine K. Connelly, Allessandra Stewart, and Arvind Lal, who assisted with forfeiture issues. Finally, they expressed appreciation for the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard DiZinno, who prosecuted the case.