Former prison guard sentenced for taking bribes faces judge again

A former corrections officer at the Federal Detention Center, Honolulu faces a detention hearing today for violating conditions of her release connected to her admission that she took about $3,500 in bribes to smuggle food, a mobile phone, pharmaceuticals and other contraband to an inmate in 2018.

Outhonthip Noy Jenks was sentenced Jan. 11, 2021, to six months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release after she entered a plea of guilty to a charge of being a public official accepting a bribe.

She was facing up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine after entering into a plea agreement on Sept. 4, 2020.

Her supervised release period started in September, according to federal court documents. In January, Jenks allegedly violated the conditions of her location monitoring and admitted to drinking alcohol. She was arrested Jan. 26.

Jenks is scheduled today for a detention hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth J. Mansfield. Jenks, who is in custody, also has an order to show cause why supervised release should not be revoked. A hearing on that matter is set for 10 a.m. Monday before Senior U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys William KeAupuni Akina and Rebecca Perlmutter represent the government in the case. Assistant Federal Public Defender Craig W. Jerome is Jenks’ attorney.

Jenks had been on supervised release before her recent arrest. She allegedly told her probation officer that she violated the con­ditions of her release on five occasions.

On Jan. 22 at 10:57 p.m., Jenks allegedly texted her probation officer saying, in part, “I wanna go to prison I’ve had enough.”

Jenks’ probation officer, Lesi Kapua, called Jenks and said she expressed her feelings with the words “very upset,” “angry,” “crazy” and “hurt.”

“She explained that she was triggered by a family member during an argument, and she felt like there was no hope in her situation,” according to request for course of action filed Jan. 24 by Kapua.

Jenks suffers from mental illness and alcohol abuse, according to the filing.

“This history, coupled with her recent behavior and significant instability, suggests that she may present a risk of danger to herself and/or the community,” wrote Kapua in the Jan. 24 filing. “The Probation Office is also concerned that she has a prior Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of an Intoxicant conviction given her recent relapse on alcohol. Lastly, her failure to abide by her home detention condition may suggest that she presents a risk of nonappearance.”

From April through May 31, 2018, Jenks was a corrections officer with the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, assigned to and working at the Federal Detention Center, Honolulu.

Jenks admitted to bringing fast food to an inmate identified in federal court records as “J.M.”

She also brought J.M. medication for his ears, pain pills “like Tylenol,” shoes and clothing. At J.M.’s behalf, defendant Jenks also took a photograph of a letter by J.M. and texted the image of the letter to one of J.M.’s associates outside of the detention center, according to the Sept. 4, 2020, plea agreement.

Inmate J.M. told Jenks he needed a mobile phone to use. Jenks smuggled one into the detention center inside her socks and also gave J.M. a charging cord. J.M. would charge his phone in the FDC’s chapel, according to court records.

Throughout May 2018 inmate J.M. called Jenks on her personal phone “multiple times.”

Jenks received $1,500 Western Union money orders on two occasions sent by an associate of inmate J.M. In addition to the $3,000 to “look the other way,” defendant Jenks received an additional $500 from inmate J.M.’s associate as payment for smuggling other contraband items to inmate J.M.