by: Aaron Boyd
A FCI Danbury case manager was arrested Friday on charges that she solicited bribes from inmates and in return recommended their early release.
Waterbury resident Kisha Perkins, 42, was arraigned Friday on charges of aiding and abetting in a bribery scheme of a public official and released on $100,000 bond.
“Plainly and simply, the FBI has zero tolerance for corruption of any kind, at any level of government,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Patricia Ferrick said. “The allegations in the complaint are clearly very serious crimes. And the resulting law enforcement response to committing those crimes should be equally clear. If you put your position of trust with the government up for sale, you will be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
According to the criminal complaint, in June 2013, Perkins approached another FCI Danbury employee about an opportunity to participate in a scheme to solicit a cash bribe from an inmate in exchange for the inmate’s early release to a halfway house. At that time, Perkins held the job title of “Unit Counselor” at FCI Danbury and did not have administrative authority to recommend inmates for early release.
Perkins allegedly told the other employee that the inmate and the inmate’s husband were willing to pay $20,000 for a positive recommendation, a fee that Perkins and the other employee would split.
The employee declined the offer and reported the scheme to officials.
In July 2013, the co-worker told Perkins that they had changed their mind and wanted to participate in the scheme. Perkins allegedly informed them that the previous offer was no longer feasible, however another opportunity arose in February of this year..
As the investigation continued, in February 2014, Perkins’ co-worker identified a second inmate as a possible candidate for the bribe scheme.
Perkins allegedly agreed to participate and on March 8, after extensive planning, they traveled to a commuter lot off of Exit 28 on Interstate 84 to pick up a partial bribe payment of $5,000 in cash in a fast food bag that, as Perkins believed, was to be dropped off by an acquaintance of the inmate.
Perkins was arrested on Friday and charged with aiding and abetting in a bribery scheme of a public official, which carries a maximum term of 15 years in prison.
“There is no tolerance for corrupt employees within the ranks of the Justice Department,” U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly said. “The allegations contained in this criminal complaint are serious and disturbing.”
Daly stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Source: patch
