Two District of Columbia Public School Special Police Officers Plead Guilty to Taking Bribes

WASHINGTON - Two Special Police Officers employed by the District of Columbia Public Schools (“DCPS”), Shawn B. Armstead, 37, and Shawn M. Johnson, 37, both of Laurel, Maryland, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to Receipt of a Bribe by a Public Official for taking money from an individual who sought to conduct a for-profit parking business using DCPS property, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor and Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington Field Office, announced.

The guilty pleas were entered before the Honorable Paul L. Friedman, U.S. District Court Judge. Sentencing is scheduled for January 5, 2009. Each defendant faces a possible statutory sentence of up to 15 years of incarceration, a fine of up to three times the amount of the bribe, a $100 special assessment, and a 3-year term of supervised release. Under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, each defendant faces a likely sentence of up to 30 months of incarceration. Both defendants are currently on administrative leave from DCPS.

According to the information presented to the Court by the government, the defendants were employed as Special Police Officers by DCPS, a District of Columbia government agency. Their official duties included, among other things, policing school grounds and enforcing various laws and regulations of the District of Columbia, as well as reporting suspected criminal activity and arresting individuals suspected of violating the law.

Between July 2, 2008 and August 27, 2008, the defendants solicited and accepted bribes from an individual who was operating a for-profit parking enterprise in the immediate vicinity of Eastern Senior High School (“Eastern”), a public school operated by DCPS at 1700 East Capitol Street, NE, Washington, D.C. That individual, who was not affiliated with the school, was charging vehicles to park on school property for events that were held both on and off school property. The defendants first discovered the parking operation on July 2, 2008, when they were dispatched to investigate a function being held on school grounds. The following day, while on duty, the defendants returned to Eastern and accepted approximately $120 in return for not interfering with the parking operation. Subsequently, the individual who was operating the parking business contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation to report that the defendants had extorted money from him.

Over the next several weeks, the defendants twice made arrangements to obtain bribe payments from the same individual, who had made it clear to the defendants that he intended to operate his parking business on DCPS property without authorization. The defendants initially demanded $500 a piece for protecting the parking operation from being disrupted. When the individual running the parking operation complained that the amount was too high, the defendants agreed to accept $650 for both of them. On July 31, 2008, the defendants agreed to meet near Eliot Junior High School, 1830 Constitution Avenue, NE, Washington, D.C., where they accepted a $650 cash bribe. When the individual paying the bribe expressed concerns for operating the parking business without DCPS authorization, Armstead replied, “We got you covered.”

Subsequently, the defendants raised their “price,” demanding $800 in return for permitting the same individual to operate the unauthorized parking business on DCPS property. On August 27, 2008, outside Eliot Junior High School, the defendants accepted an $800 bribe, which they split between them. The defendants accepted this money in return for their agreement not to perform their sworn duties as Special Police Officers for DCPS. As DCPS Special Police Officers, the defendants had a duty to take action upon learning that DCPS property would be used without authority. They failed to do so.

In announcing today’s guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Taylor and FBI Assistant Director Persichini commended the members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington Field Office who participated in this investigation. They also commended the staff the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Legal Assistant April Peeler and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Haray, who is prosecuting the case.

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