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Press Release

Former Federal Corrections Officer Pleads Guilty to Accepting Bribes from Inmates

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Hampshire

          CONCORD, N.H. – A former federal corrections officer, Latoya Sebree, 37, pleaded guilty today to accepting bribes and providing contraband to federal inmates, announced Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley.

 

          According to statements made in court, Sebree, while employed as a corrections officer, provided cellular telephones, tobacco, marijuana and other contraband to inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution in Berlin, New Hampshire, in exchange for money. While investigating the case, law enforcement agents examined cell phones in the possession of inmates that contained numerous text messages that revealed evidence of bribes inmates paid to Sebree.

 

          After viewing that evidence, the law enforcement agents monitored communications between Sebree and an inmate’s girlfriend, who was cooperating with the authorities. In the communications, Sebree agreed to deliver a cellular telephone and a quantity of tobacco to an inmate for $2000 in cash. The cash was mailed to a Post Office box that Sebree rented. After the transaction was completed, $2000 in cash, a quantity of tobacco in various stages of packaging, a heat sealer, three Samsung phones in heat sealed packaging, a Samsung Galaxy phone with a battery and charger, a package of Suboxone, and a VISA gift card were recovered during a search of Sebree’s home in Milan, New Hampshire.

 

          Sebree is scheduled to be sentenced on December 12, 2017. She faces a prison sentence of up to 15 years and a fine of up to $250,000 on the bribery charge. She faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for providing contraband to inmates.

 

          “The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to identifying and prosecuting corrupt public employees,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Farley. “Smuggling contraband into prisons creates hazards for both inmates and corrections officers. We will work closely with our law enforcement partners to prevent contraband from getting into prisons and to ensure that corrections officers do not engage in unlawful activities or seek to profit from their positions.”

 

          The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Robert Kinsella is prosecuting the case.

 

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Updated September 5, 2017

Topic
Drug Trafficking