Federal Prison Officer at Coleman Charged With Taking Bribes to Smuggle Drugs and Tobacco

A federal correctional officer at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in central Florida has been indicted on charges that he took money to smuggle contraband, including a controlled substance, to an inmate.

Weston Burney, 34, of Webster, Florida, is charged with one count of receiving a bribe as a public official and one count of providing contraband to a federal prisoner, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced on Oct. 23, 2026. The allegations have not been proven in court, and he is presumed innocent.

What the indictment alleges

Between February and June 2025, Burney, a Bureau of Prisons employee, accepted money in exchange for smuggling contraband into the Coleman complex, in violation of his duties as a correctional officer, according to the indictment.

The contraband included tobacco and MDMB-4en-PINACA, which the indictment describes as a Schedule I controlled substance, and he provided it to an inmate in return for payments, prosecutors said. The release does not name the inmate or say how much Burney was paid.

What the court docket shows

A grand jury returned the indictment on Oct. 20, 2026, and prosecutors asked the court to seal it and related documents, which a magistrate judge granted the same day, according to the docket in case No. 5:26-cr-00127. The docket records Burney’s arrest on Oct. 22, 2026. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber.

Possible penalties

If convicted, Burney faces up to 15 years in prison on the bribery charge and up to 10 years on the contraband charge, prosecutors said. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of any property traceable to proceeds of the alleged offense.

The Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General and the Bureau of Prisons are investigating. Assistant U.S. Attorney Angela Moon Palacios will prosecute the case.