Tawanna Hilliard, Witness Retaliation, New York 2022

A federal jury in Brooklyn has delivered a guilty verdict against Tawanna Hilliard, a paralegal working in the Civil Division of another United States Attorney’s Office, on charges of witness retaliation, conspiracy to commit witness retaliation, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Hilliard, the mother of a 5-9 Brims gang member, was found guilty of releasing information obtained in the discovery of a case involving her son in an effort to harass and retaliate against potential cooperating witnesses, which resulted in threats being made to those individuals.

The evidence at trial proved that in May 2018, the defendant’s son, Tyquan Hilliard, a member of the 5-9 Brims, participated in an armed robbery of a cell phone store in Monticello, New York with another individual and that individual’s girlfriend.

In August 2018, the defendant received the discovery in her son’s robbery case, which included video-recorded statements of the individuals involved. She thereafter discussed the videos in detail over recorded phone calls with her son, who was incarcerated following his arrest for the robbery.

On August 5, 2018, the defendant uploaded two videos to YouTube, one of the statements from her son’s associates, that quickly garnered over 10,000 views and a substantial amount of attention on social media, including comments that included threats of violence against the witnesses.

Tawanna Hilliard’s co-defendant and son, Tyquan Hilliard, pleaded guilty in November 2020 to witness tampering conspiracy related to the same scheme and was sentenced to 63 months’ imprisonment.

United States Attorney Breon Peace stated, “The defendant, a paralegal in a federal prosecutor’s office, obstructed justice to retaliate against, harass and jeopardize the safety of suspected cooperating witnesses against her gang member son.”

Tawanna Hilliard will face sentencing at a later date. The case is a stark reminder that those who brazenly commit such acts, including through the anonymity provided by the use of social media and the internet, will be investigated and prosecuted.

Related Federal Cases