Federal Indictment Charges Florida Correctional Officer with Bribery and Contraband Smuggling
Weston Burney, a 34-year-old correctional officer in Florida, has been charged by federal indictment with one count of receipt of a bribe by a public official and one count of providing contraband to a federal prisoner. According to the indictment, between February and June 2025, Burney, employed by the U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), accepted monetary payments in exchange for smuggling contraband into the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex. The contraband included tobacco and Methyl 3,3-dimethyl-2-(1-(pent-4-en-1-yl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxamido) butanoate (MDMB-4en-PINACA), a Schedule I controlled substance, which he provided to an inmate. The investigation is being conducted by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, with Assistant United States Attorney Angela Moon Palacios prosecuting the case. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement. Burney is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
