Update: 

A D.C. corrections officer and a man detained at the D.C. Jail were both sentenced to prison time this week for their roles in a three-person scheme that smuggled drugs into the D.C. Jail.

The jail resident, 31-year-old Andre Gregory, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison — a sentence that will run concurrently to his sentence of eight years for armed and unlawful possession of a firearm. The former corrections officer, 52-year-old Beverly Williams, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison. A third defendant who also pleaded guilty to being involved in the scheme — 28-year-old Keywaune McLeod — is still awaiting sentencing.

“Through this bribery and smuggling scheme, in exchange for cash, Beverly Williams betrayed her duty and undermined security and the whole function of the D.C. Jail by bringing drugs to the inmates inside,” U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves said in a statement after the sentencing. “Inmate Andre Gregory and co-defendant Keywaune McLeod conspired with Williams to pull this off – and all of them profited from her corruption.  Our Office will do everything in our power to eliminate corruption in our prison system, and anywhere in government, and to ensure that crimes like this don’t pay.”

Original:

A D.C. Jail corrections officer pleaded guilty Wednesday to accepting bribery payments in exchange for sneaking illegal drugs into the facility. The plea comes two days after a D.C. man pleaded guilty Monday for his role in the three-person smuggling scheme.

The officer, Beverly Williams, 52, pleaded guilty to one count of bribery, according to the United States Attorney for D.C., Matthew Graves. On Monday, 28-year-old Keywaune McLeod pleaded guilty to one count of bribery as well. Both of their charges carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and potential financial penalties.

A District Court judge will sentence Williams and McLeod in June. A spokesperson for the city’s Department of Corrections did not immediately return DCist/WAMU’s request for comment on Williams’ and McLeod’s plea.

Williams and McLeod were first charged and indicted in September 2022, along with McLeod’s cousin Andre Gregory, who was a resident at the jail. (Gregory’s charges are still pending as of Wednesday, according to USAO.) Prosecutors alleged that from roughly June 2022 through the beginning of September, the three participated in a conspiracy to bring illegal drugs into the D.C. Jail.

A D.C. Corrections investigator and two Metropolitan Police Department investigators had executed a search warrant on Williams earlier that month, finding tobacco, rolling papers, air freshener spray, Mylar bags “containing a green like substance” and 25 pills, which were both acetaminophen (Tylenol) and oxycodone hydrochloride, according to the case documents. Williams was arrested and charged with the unlawful possession of contraband.

In June 2022, McLeod was recruited by someone currently incarcerated in the D.C. Jail to package narcotics, and manage the sale of those narcotics inside the D.C. Jail, according to the USAO. He would provide the drugs — described in court documents as pills including oxycodone and a “green leafy substance” — to Williams, who would bring them inside the jail and give them to McLeod’s contact to be distributed. McLeod then managed the payments through CashApp, and paid Williams for her role in getting the drugs inside the facility, the USAO alleges.

Gregory, McLeod’s cousin inside the D.C. Jail, allegedly had a goal of making $100,000 from the scheme. He has not pleaded guilty.

The announcement of the indictments last fall came amid a series of drug overdoses at the D.C. Jail. Earlier in May of 2022, Ramone O’Neal died of an accidental overdose from a combination of fentanyl, fluorofentanyl, and xylazine; that same month, there were two nonfatal drug overdoses at the jail. In fall of 2021, a surprise inspection from the U.S. Marshals Service found that “evidence of drug use was pervasive, and marijuana smoke and odor were widespread.” (Following that surprise inspection, the USMS announced it would be transferring 400 people out of D.C. Jail to a federal prison in Pennsylvania; ultimately around 200 people were moved to Pennsylvania or other federal facilities.)

It’s also not the first case of contraband smuggling allegedly involving a corrections officer. In February 2022, D.C. Jail corrections officer Johnson Ayuk was charged with bribery and providing or possessing contraband in prison, for allegedly accepting money from the girlfriend of a resident at the jail in exchange for bringing in contraband.

This story has been updated with the news of Beverly Williams’ guilty plea. 

Jenny Gathright contributed reporting.

Previously:
Corrections Officer Charged With Allegedly Smuggling Drugs Into D.C. Jail