FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, February 24, 2022

D.C. Department of Corrections Officer Arrested for Bribery and Smuggling of Contraband

Defendant Accused of Accepting Money to Bring Weapons, Drugs to Inmates

            WASHINGTON—A District of Columbia Department of Corrections Officer was arrested today on charges alleging that he accepted bribes to bring prohibited items, including weapons and drugs, into the District’s Central Detention Facility (CDF). 

            Johnson Ayuk, 31, of Bowie, Maryland, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia with bribery and providing or possessing contraband in prison, both federal offenses. He was arrested at the CDF and made his initial appearance this afternoon before Magistrate Judge Robin M. Meriweather. He was released on high-intensity supervision pending a preliminary hearing set for March 10, 2022.

            The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office Criminal Division, and Tom Faust, Director of the District of Columbia Department of Corrections.

            According to court documents, Ayuk has been a Department of Corrections officer since April 2021, and his only assignment has been at CDF, where he is responsible for maintaining order and security of those housed in the facility. In the charging documents, he is accused of taking part in a smuggling operation in which he accepted money from the un-incarcerated girlfriend of an inmate to bring illicit materials—including knives, drugs, and cellular telephones—into the jail for distribution among inmates.   

            This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the D.C. Department of Corrections’ Investigative Services Branch.  This case is being prosecuted by the Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. The U.S. Marshals Service has provided valuable assistance.

            A complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.