An employee of the federal prison in Danbury has been sentenced to one year in prison for taking part in a scheme to collect bribes, including shoes or designer bags, from inmates in exchange for recommendations that they be released early to halfway houses.
Kisha Perkins, 43, of Waterbury, worked as a "unit counselor" at FCI Danbury and was arrested after an undercover investigation, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.
Officials said Perkins didn't have the administrative authority to recommend inmates for early release, so in June 2013, she approached another prison employee who did have the authority about taking part in the scheme, federal officials said.
That employee went to authorities and reported the scheme and agreed to cooperate in the investigation.
In July 2013, at the direction of law enforcement, the same employeewent back to Perkins, claiming to change his or her mind, and proceeded to record several conversations for investigators.
In February 2014, Perkins agreed to accept a pair of shoes or a Louis Vuitton pocketbook in exchange for counseling a prison employee about the bribe scheme and never reported the bribery scheme to prison officials.
One month later, authorities arrested Perkins, who pleaded guilty to one count of acceptance of a bribe by a public official.
Perkins was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison, followed by one year of supervised release.
