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A 36-year-old inmate and his 42-year-old girlfriend -- both of Philadelphia -- were charged as co-conspirators in the seven-count indictment, Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said.
Officer Haneef Lawton, inmate Kernard Murray and Charene Stallings were charged with one count of conspiracy, two counts of federal program bribery, and distribution (and possession with intent to distribute) a controlled substance (Suboxone), Williams said.
Stallings was also charged with an additional count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base or crack, authorities said.
Lawton agreed with Murray that he would sneak contraband into the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center (PICC) for Murray to sell to other inmates, the indictment says.
Lawton agreed to smuggling the contraband on multiple occasions in exchange for a series of bribes, the indictment says.
As part of the arrangement, Murray is charged with securing the agreement of his fellow inmate buyers to make payment arrangements with Stallings via cash and electronic peer-to-peer payment methods such as CashApp.
Murray and Stallings apparently paid Lawton more than $11,400 using CashApp in the scheme, in which Murray and Stallings trafficked as much as $69,000 worth of contraband into PICC.
If convicted, the defendants Lawton and Murray face a maximum possible sentence of 45 years’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a $2 million fine.
Stallings faces those same penalties and an additional potential mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years to life imprisonment, five years supervised release, and a $10 million fine for the cocaine base.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Affairs from the Philadelphia Department of Prisons, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Eric L. Gibson.
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