D.C. Councilmember Arrested on Bribery Charge

           WASHINGTON – Trayon White Sr., the D.C. Councilmember representing Ward 8, was arrested yesterday on a criminal complaint charging him with bribery. White, 40, is Chair of the Council’s Committee on Recreation, Libraries and Youth Affairs, which oversees several agencies including the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS).

           The complaint alleges that, beginning in June 2024, White corruptly agreed to accept $156,000 in cash payments in exchange for using his position as a D.C. Councilmember to pressure government employees at Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE) and DYRS to extend several D.C. contracts.  The contracts at issue were valued at $5.2 million and were for two companies to provide Violence Intervention services in D.C.  As alleged, the $156,000 White agreed to accept in exchange for using his official position to pressure renewal of those contracts to particular companies was three percent of the total contract value.  According to the complaint, White’s agreement with a confidential human source (the owner of the companies) – including the source’s payments to White of $35,000 in cash on four separate occasions (June 26, July 17, July 25, and August 9, 2024) and the source showing White a document reflecting how White’s three-percent cut was calculated based on those contracts – was captured on video. 

           The arrest and charge was announced by U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, D.C. Inspector General Daniel Lucas, and Executive Special Agent in Charge Kareem A. Carter of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Washington, D.C. Field Office.

           “Because the investigation into the alleged bribery scheme involved contracts that could soon be awarded and other potential official acts that could be taken, our Office took swift steps to address the alleged crimes we were investigating,” said U.S. Attorney Graves.

           This ongoing investigation is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the FBI Washington Field Office, the D.C. Office of the Inspector General, and the IRS Criminal Investigation Washington Field Office.

           A criminal complaint is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.