Corrections Officer From Upper Marlboro Sentenced For Drug Related Bribery Charges

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — A corrections officer from Prince George's County and an inmate were sentenced recently for bribery charges in a scheme that smuggled narcotics into the District of Columbia Central Detention Facility, also known as the D.C. Jail.

According to the government’s evidence, Former Corrections Officer Beverly Williams, 52, of Upper Marlboro, admitted that while working as a correctional officer at the D.C. jail in 2022, she accepted bribe payments of $6,400 to smuggle packages containing narcotics into the facility. Williams received packages of drugs and cigarettes from Keywaune McLeod, 31-year-old Andre Gregory’s cousin, and snuck them into the jail by concealing them on her body.

Once inside, Williams transferred the drugs to inmate Gregory, in secure areas where they could not be seen on surveillance cameras. Gregory then distributed the drugs for a profit. McLeod, who accepted and managed the proceeds, used CashApp to make bribe payments to Williams for the drug smuggling. Gregory used jail-issued phones and electronic tablets to communicate with McLeod, using coded language in an attempt to avoid detection of their conspiracy.

Gregory who was incarcerated at the time of the bribery offense, was sentenced to 42 months in prison. Williams was sentenced to 18 months in prison. The two defendants were charged along with Keywaune McLeod, 28, of Washington, D.C., who is awaiting sentencing. All three defendants pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

“Corrections officers are critical to the safe and orderly operation of our prison system,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves. “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. 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.”