Former Employee of Federal Court Contractor Indicted For Bribery, Witness Tampering and Perjury in Federal Grand Jury

A federal grand jury has indicted Lauren Jeannette Diggs, age 50, of Rockville, on charges of conspiracy to seek and accept a bribe, witness tampering, and making false statements to the grand jury.  The indictment was returned on October 22, and unsealed today, upon the arrest of the defendant. 

The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Chief Mark A. Magaw of the Prince George’s County Police Department.       

“The indictment charges that Lauren Jeannette Diggs took bribes to falsify drug tests of federal criminal defendants, then committed perjury before the grand jury investigating the allegations,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.  “Providing false information to courts and grand juries undermines the integrity of the criminal justice system.”

According to the indictment, from July 27, 2009 through December 30, 2010, Diggs was employed as a Senior Counselor by ADR, a company that provides alcohol and drug treatment services.  ADR had offices in Forestville, Annapolis, Glen Burnie, and Waldorf, Maryland.  As part of her official duties, Diggs was the primary alcohol and substance abuse counselor for ADR’s Forestville facility, where she also supervised urine tests on female clients.  U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services in Maryland contracted with ADR to provide a variety of services, including testing the urine samples of individuals who were on pretrial release, supervised release, parole or probation for the presence of controlled substances.  When ADR clients completed their substance abuse and mental health treatment programs, ADR provided them with Discharge Summary Certificates.  U.S. Probation relied on the urine test results and the Discharge Summary Certificates to inform the U.S. District Court or the Parole Commission and for their use in supervising individuals charged with or convicted of federal crimes.     

The six count indictment alleges that Diggs, co-conspirator Christopher Womack, who was employed at ADR as a urine technician, and others, sought and accepted bribes to influence the performance of their official duties, including performing and not performing court-mandated drug testing, and providing fictitious discharge certificates.  After her employment with ADR ended in 2010, Diggs continued to work with Womack to provide fictitious certificates to ADR clients in exchange for money, and received proceeds of bribe payments from Womack.

Specifically, the indictment alleges that in January 2010, Diggs asked Womack to ensure that certain ADR clients under supervision would not have their urine samples accurately tested and reported to U.S. Pro