Lynette Carlest, Racketeering Conspiracy, Maryland 2019

Baltimore Woman Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy, Admits to Assisting Inmate to Have Contraband Smuggled into Maryland’s Federal Pretrial Detention Facility

Baltimore, Maryland – Lynette Carlest, age 49, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty yesterday to participating in a racketeering conspiracy, including drug distribution and bribery, by assisting a detainee at Chesapeake Detention Facility (CDF) in Baltimore, Maryland to have contraband smuggled into the facility.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Baltimore Field Office; and Secretary Robert Green of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS).

According to her guilty plea, between 2018 and March 11, 2019, Carlest conspired with others to assist a detainee to smuggle narcotics, cell phones, and other contraband into CDF. Specifically, Carlest used a mobile monetary transfer application to manage the financial aspects of the detainee’s smuggling operation. For example, Carlest used the application to send at least four bribe payments of $800 or more to Darren Parker, a correctional officer at CDF, in exchange for Parker’s assistance in smuggling contraband into the jail.

As detailed in the plea agreement, Carlest met with Parker and provided him with contraband on multiple occasions. For example, on March 10, 2019, Carlest met with Parker to give Parker a cell phone, charger, suboxone, and tobacco to be smuggled into CDF and given to the detainee. On March 11, 2019, Parker brought the contraband to work and was approached by law enforcement officers in the CDF parking lot. Later that day, Carlest received a call from the detainee, using a contraband cell phone inside CDF, informing her that Parker had been caught attempting to smuggle contraband into the jail.

Carlest faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for racketeering conspiracy. U.S. District Judge George L. Russell has scheduled sentencing for February 9, 2022 at 11 a.m.

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