A D.C. Corrections Officer was arrested Thursday for allegedly accepting bribes to bring knives, drugs, and cellphones into the D.C. Jail to distribute to people detained there. The officer, 31-year-old Johnson Ayuk, has been charged with two federal offenses: bribery and providing or possessing contraband in prison.

Ayuk has been a corrections officer working in D.C.’s Central Detention Facility since April 2021. He allegedly took part in a “smuggling operation” and accepted money from the girlfriend of a man incarcerated in the D.C. Jail in exchange for bringing the prohibited items into the facility, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

The FBI and the D.C. Department of Corrections’ Investigative Services Branch are both investigating the case, according to a press release from the USAO.

Ayuk has been released on high-intensity supervision as he awaits a preliminary hearing scheduled for March.

“The DC Department of Corrections is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for the men and women in our custody and care,” wrote DOC spokesperson Keena Blackmon in an emailed statement. “DOC launched an investigation in collaboration with the US Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Washington Field Office) which resulted in an arrest of a correctional officer for introduction of contraband into one of our facilities.”

Concerns about contraband in the D.C. Jail were highlighted in a scathing memo the U.S. Marshals Service issued after it conducted a surprise inspection of the facility in the fall. The Marshals Service has custody of some people held in the jail, including people who are awaiting court appearances in federal cases, people who are awaiting assignments to federal prisons after sentencing, and people who are in the D.C. Jail as they go through certain legal processes or make court appearances.

“Evidence of drug use was pervasive, and marijuana smoke and odor were widespread,” the memo said. The memo also described evidence of violence in the jail — a longstanding concern that residents, staff, and defense attorneys have noted for years—and said some of the jail residents had visible injuries but no medical or incident reports associated with them.

Following the inspection, the Marshals Service announced its intentions to transfer 400 people in its custody out of the D.C. Jail to a federal prison in Pennsylvania. Ultimately, the marshals service transferred at least 200 people to the Pennsylvania prison and other federal facilities and entered into an agreement with the D.C. Department of Corrections to make a plan for improving conditions at the facility.