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Press Release

Former Correctional Officer Sentenced for Smuggling Mobile Phones into Federal Detention Center

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Lee E. Moore, Jr., 36, of Sicklerville, New Jersey, was sentenced yesterday to three years of probation with six months of home detention and a $5,000 fine by United States Magistrate Judge Scott W. Reid, all arising from Moore smuggling mobile phones into the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia (“FDC”) while he was employed as a correctional officer at the FDC.

From August  2016 to June 2023, Moore was a correctional officer at the FDC. During May-June 2020, Moore smuggled mobile phones into the FDC in exchange for payments from an inmate’s wife. In June 2020, Moore also approached a second inmate about smuggling in contraband or other special favors in exchange for payment. 

“Correctional officers have a tough enough job without having to deal with inmates who have access to smuggled contraband,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “Lee Moore put his fellow COs and the public at risk by smuggling cell phones into the FDC for a price. But the price for breaking his law enforcement oath is much higher: he’s lost his job and now has a federal conviction on his record.”

"When a corrections officer chooses greed over integrity, it undermines the hard work and dedication their colleagues put forward every day to ensure a safe environment inside our detention centers," said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Philadelphia. "The FBI and our partners reaffirm our commitment to holding accountable those in the corrections system who abuse their positions of trust."

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Detention Center and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Vineet Gauri. 

Updated October 11, 2024

Topic
Public Corruption