Admitted Accepting Cash Payments for Not Reporting Positive Urinalysis Results
Michael Andre Brown, age 47, of Waldorf, pleaded guilty today to a federal bribery charge, in connection with his employment with a federal contractor in which he administered urinalysis tests to individuals on federal probation, supervised release and pre-trial supervision.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Jennifer C. Boone of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Chief Henry P. Stawinski III of the Prince George’s County Police Department.
According to his plea agreement, Brown was an employee at a company in Camp Springs, that provided drug and alcohol treatment and testing services. Through a federal contract, the business was tasked with, among other things, administering urinalysis tests to individuals on federal probation, supervised release, and pre-trial supervision on behalf of the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Office of the District of Maryland. Brown was a urinalysis technician for the company. Brown admitted that from at least December 2018 through February 2019, Brown, in his official capacity, accepted cash payments in exchange for falsely reporting urinalysis results as negative for controlled substances, when in fact, the results were positive for controlled substances.
Brown admitted that he then gave instructions to the UC on how to check in on his/her next date for urine analysis, but also informed the UC that his/her next date would be December 28, 2018, two days away, and that Brown would be working again on that date. Such dates are assigned daily and are not supposed to be divulged to the probationers until the evening before.
According to the plea agreement, on December 28, 2018, the UC provided another urine sample to Brown, but instead of checking it, Brown told the UC, “Go ahead and pour it [the urine] out,” “Cause if it was dirty the other day, it’s gonna be dirty today.” The UC again expressed appreciation to Brown and asked if Brown “needed anything.” Brown admitted that he again accepted $100 from the UC and indicated that he would do so on future dates, as well. Brown also accepted $150 from the UC on February 11, 2019, without requiring the UC to submit a urine sample at all, before Brown falsely reported a negative urinalysis result for the UC. The company then reported that false result to U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services.
Brown faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for bribery. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis has scheduled sentencing for August 28, 2019, at 10:00 a.m.
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the FBI and the Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth G. Wright, who is prosecuting the case.
