A woman who worked at the US Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey is accused by federal prosecutors of using her access to government information to help a gang identify people cooperating with law enforcement. She has pleaded not guilty.
According to CNN, prosecutors say Tawanna used her position to help her son Tyquan and the Five Nine Brims gang, a Bloods set. Prosecutors allege the conduct went on for more than two years, beginning in 2016, after a high ranking gang member asked her to find out who was cooperating with authorities. The charges were announced by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
Court documents say investigators learned of the alleged scheme through recorded calls between Tawanna and Tyquan while he was in prison. Prosecutors say the two discussed how others might use violence against the gang member. She is also accused of improperly obtaining information from a protected government computer.
Tawanna is charged with counts that include witness tampering, obstruction of justice and conspiracy. Court records show she pleaded not guilty and was released on a $75,000 bond. Tyquan, who is already serving a prison sentence for robbery and assault, is also named in the indictment and had not yet been arraigned on the new charges, according to the records.
Prosecutors also say that when Tyquan was arrested in connection with a robbery, his mother tried to intimidate accomplices who had confessed, and that the families of those accomplices received death threats after confession videos were shared. Those are allegations from prosecutors, and the charges have not been proven in court.
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