WASHINGTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)), published as received.
WASHINGTON – Corrections Officer Rashaad Roper, 45, of Gaithersburg, MD, is one of five people charged by indictment, unsealed today, in a conspiracy to provide a knife, drugs, and cell phones to inmates in the D.C. jail as they awaited trial for murder and assault with intent to kill while armed. The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, and Chief Investigator Kevin L. Hammond of the D.C. Department of Corrections Office of Investigative Services.
Also named in the indictment are: LaTara Brown, 31, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, and Kiya Holland, 33, of Oxon Hill, Maryland, who were arrested on November 19, 2024. Roper, Brown, Holland, and their co-defendants—Darius Robertson, 31, Marcel Vines, 28, and Stefon Freshley, 28—are each charged with providing or possessing contraband in a prison, as well as conspiring to do so.
According to the indictment, Holland and Brown packaged contraband, such as a knife, cell phones, and controlled substances, into Tupperware containers hidden concealed in saranwrap in the middle of prepared food. They would bring the Tupperware containers to the Central Detention Facility, also known as the D.C. Jail, where Officer Roper or another corrections officer identified in the indictment as Co-Conspirator 1, would take possession of the containers and smuggle them into the jail. Once inside, the corrections officer would deliver the contraband to Robertson, Vines, and/or Freshley, who were inmates inside the housing unit where the officers worked.
On two occasions, the Department of Corrections Office of Investigative Services (“OIS”) recovered contraband related to the conspiracy. On February 28, 2024, OIS intercepted a bag Holland dropped off at the jail and that Roper intended to pick up. The bag contained two Tupperware containers filled with: (1) one switchblade knife; (2) one Apple iPhone cellphone; (3) a white USB iPhone charger; (4) two pairs of eyeglasses; (5) a bundle marijuana wrapped in clear saranwrap; (6) suspected tobacco wrapped in clear saranwrap; (7) several sheets of white rolling papers; (8) a pair of gambling dice; (9) three white sheets of bonded paper that were damp and emitted a chemical odor; (10) two saran-wrapped packages of marijuana; and (11) five individually wrapped packages in clear saranwrap containing approximately 100 cigarettes.
Additionally, on July 25, 2024, OIS did a sweep of the housing unit where Robertson, Vines, and Freshley were held. Officers recovered, among other things, (1) 269 blue pills (including 120 from Vines’ cell), containing 5F-ADB—a synthetic cannabinoid and a Schedule I controlled substance; (2) 60 cigarettes soaked in an unknown liquid (including 40 in Vines’ cell); (3) 255 strips containing Buprenorphine (170 in Vines’ cell)—a Schedule III narcotic controlled substance; (4) 7 pieces of paper soaked in an unknown liquid substance; (5) three cellular phones; and (6) cigarettes.
The conspiracy charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of 5 years in prison, while providing or possessing contraband in a prison carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison. A U.S. District court judge will determine the appropriate sentence after considering the sentencing guidelines and other factors.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the D.C. Department of Corrections Office of Investigative Services with the assistance of the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Gold.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
