WASHINGTON — A DC Department of Corrections Officer was arrested Thursday for allegedly smuggling weapons, drugs and other prohibited items into the District’s Central Detention Facility. He has since been released on high-intensity supervision pending his next hearing.
Johnson Ayuk, a 31-year-old from Bowie, Maryland, has been charged in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia with bribery and providing or possessing contraband in prison, which are both federal offenses.
According to court documents, Ayuk has been a Department of Corrections officer since April 2021 and his only assignment has been at CDF. At the jail, he was responsible for maintaining order and monitoring the security of those in the facility.
In the charging documents, Ayuk is accused of taking part in a smuggling operation in which he accepted money from the girlfriend of an inmate to bring illicit items —including knives, drugs, and cellphones—into the jail for distribution among inmates.
The case is currently being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the D.C. Department of Corrections’ Investigative Services Branch.
After making his initial appearance before a judge Thursday, he was released, with a preliminary hearing set for March 10.
“A complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law,” officials specified via press release regarding the incident.
