A D.C. inmate who is now serving a life sentence for murder, along with his mother and his brother, has pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy and smuggling contraband into the District of Columbia Central Detention Facility in 2023, the Justice Department announced.
Malique Lewis, 28, Teleka Lewis, 47, and Michael Lewis, 32, all of Washington, D.C., entered their guilty pleas, according to the announcement from Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent Jeffrey Lee Tyler of the FBI Washington Field Office.
According to statements made in court, D.C. correction officers on May 23, 2023, seized approximately 31 sheets of paper soaked in a synthetic cannabinoid and a mixture containing fentanyl and heroin from Malique Lewis’s cell. At the time, he was awaiting trial on kidnapping, murder and firearm charges. He has since been convicted of those charges and is serving a life sentence.
Court statements detail how Malique Lewis communicated with his mother, his brother and a drug supplier through third-party calling prison accounts to facilitate the smuggling operation. The scheme involved packing an accordion-style legal folder with controlled substances disguised as legal papers. Teleka Lewis and Malique Lewis arranged for Michael Lewis to pack the folder, which Teleka then delivered to Malique’s legal counsel so it could be covertly introduced into the facility. Prosecutors said there is no evidence the lawyer knew the papers were laced with drugs.
Malique Lewis intended to distribute, and did distribute, controlled substances to other inmates at the CDF, according to court documents. At his direction, Teleka Lewis also managed the proceeds from drug sales inside the prison, including receiving and making payments through online services such as Cash App and Apple Pay, prosecutors said.
Malique and Teleka Lewis each pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute controlled substances — including fentanyl, heroin and synthetic cannabinoids — within a federally contracted prison. Both are scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 21 and face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Michael Lewis pleaded guilty to providing contraband in a prison, a misdemeanor. He is also scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 21 and faces a maximum of one year in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors, the Justice Department said.
The FBI Washington Field Office and the D.C. Department of Corrections Office of Investigative Services are investigating the case. Trial Attorneys Brian P. Leaming and Jared Hernandez of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section are prosecuting.
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