Former BOP Correctional Officer Sentenced for Conspiracy to Commit Bribery of Public Officials and Bribery of a Public Official

On December 8, 2022, a former BOP Correctional Officer previously assigned to the Federal Correctional Institution Hazelton (FCI Hazelton) in West Virginia, was sentenced to 63 months of imprisonment and 3 years of supervised released, as well as ordered to forfeit $8,901, for one count of conspiracy to commit bribery of public officials and one count of bribery of public official.  Eli Scott Villers was sentenced in the Northern District of West Virginia.  According to the Report and Recommendation Concerning Plea of Guilty in Felony Case, Villers pleaded guilty to counts one and two of the Indictment (the only counts related to Villers), which stated that from on or about September 1, 2018, through on or about February 25, 2019, Villers knowingly and willfully conspired with a BOP inmate to corruptly demand, accept, and agree to receive bribes, in exchange for smuggling tobacco, a contraband item, into FCI Hazelton on multiple occasions. The investigation was conducted by the OIG’s Washington Field Office.