Two former correctional officers pleaded guilty to engaging in bribery and smuggling contraband into Leavenworth Detention Center.
According to court documents, Jacqueline Sifuentes, 26, of Laredo, Texas, and Cheyonte Harris, 29, of Raytown, Missouri, previously worked as correctional officers at Leavenworth Detention Center, a privately-run maximum-security federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas. Sifuentes used her position to smuggle contraband — including methamphetamine, marijuana, and tobacco — into the prison in exchange for bribes from a federal inmate. Harris used her position to smuggle contraband into the prison in exchange for bribes from inmates and their associates.
Both defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to accept bribes and provide contraband to inmates of a federal prison. Each is scheduled to be sentenced on May 17, and each faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI and DOJ-OIG are investigating the cases.
Trial Attorneys Rebecca M. Schuman and Dahoud A. Askar of the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section are prosecuting the cases.
