A mother and two brothers pleaded guilty to smuggling drugs into the District of Columbia Central Detention Facility (CDF), officials said Friday.
According to court testimony from May 2023, D.C. detention officers discovered around 31 sheets of paper drenched in synthetic cannabis and a mixture or substance combining fentanyl and heroin in 28-year-old Malique Lewis’ cell. Malique Lewis was on trial at the time for kidnapping, murder, and possession of a firearm.
He was later convicted of those allegations and is now receiving a life sentence.
To enable the import of drugs into the prison, Malique Lewis used third-party calling prison accounts to connect with his mother, Teleka Lewis, 47, his brother Michael Lewis, 32, and a drug dealer.
Malique and Teleka Lewis planned to have Michael Lewis fill an accordion-style legal folder with controlled substances disguised as “legal papers.” Teleka Lewis then handed over the document to Malique Lewis’ lawyer, who passed it to Michael Lewis.
Officials stressed that the evidence did not indicate the lawyer’s awareness of the papers’ narcotic contamination.
Malique Lewis then distributed the pills to the other convicts at the facility.
According to the attorney’s office, Teleka Lewis managed the narcotics revenues and money while in prison. She utilized CashApp and Apple Pay to pay for the narcotics sold in the prison.
Malique and Teleka Lewis pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute banned narcotics such as fentanyl, heroin, and synthetic cannabinoids inside a federally contracted jail. The mother-son combo faces up to 20 years in prison.
Michael Lewis pleaded guilty to distributing contraband in prison and now faces up to a year in jail.
The family members will be sentenced on August 21.