Former DC Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement director charged with bribery
WASHINGTON () — The former deputy director of D.C.'s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE) was indicted Tuesday on charges of bribery and criminal forfeiture, according to charging documents obtained by .
Dana McDaniel served in her role from January 2020 to April 2023, during which time she helped provide resources and interventions for at-risk people and communities impacted by violence in D.C.
One of those resources included the Violence Intervention (VI) Initiative, a program designed to support D.C. residents in reducing gun violence in their communities.
The U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO) says McDaniel accepted bribes from before September 2022 through at least August 2024.
'A lot of worry, a lot of fear': DC area nonprofits feel the impact of federal worker layoffs
Charging documents state that someone gave McDaniel at least $10,000 to ensure she would direct contracts and grants to their businesses.
The person who allegedly bribed her lived in Maryland and operated several businesses that provided services to the D.C. government. One of the companies represented itself as a 'community-based initiative to serve high-risk youths and adults throughout D.C. and Maryland.'
The company provided services in Wards 1 and 4 in the District.
Another company provided violence intervention services in Ward 5.
A third company involved was a nonprofit organization that provided family and mental health services to people in D.C. In 2022, it became ONSE's 'administrative partner to provide quality assurance, compliance, and fiscal management for subgrantees under the VI Initiative,' court documents state.
In addition to bribery, McDaniel was charged with Criminal Forfeiture.
If convicted of bribery, she would be ordered to forfeit any of the proceeds she obtained.
reached out to the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and is awaiting a response.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Tinder user sends woman unsolicited video of child sex abuse in CA, feds say
A California man faces at least 15 years in federal prison after prosecutors said he sent an unsolicited video of an adult sexually abusing a young girl for 17 seconds to a woman he met on the dating app Tinder. Ricardo Gutierrez, 28, first sent her a photo of a different girl, estimated to be around 6- to 8-years-old, with 'three face with hand over mouth iMessage emojis,' and asked whether she had 'little girls' as neighbors or nieces, according to prosecutors. 'I need a girl…Young girl…,' Gutierrez is accused of writing to the woman. She reported Gutierrez to law enforcement, leading authorities to uncover his involvement in sexually exploiting children, prosecutors said. An investigation revealed that in April 2024, about a month before meeting the woman over Tinder, Gutierrez sexually exploited four young children, including a toddler, in two videos he filmed in Tehama County, about a 130-mile drive northwest from Sacramento, according to court documents. 'Gutierrez screen recorded himself and the child victims on video through Facebook Messenger,' prosecutors said. Now, Gutierrez, of Red Bluff in Tehama County, has pleaded guilty to one count of child sexual exploitation, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California said in a June 6 news release. His court-appointed federal public defender, Douglas J. Beevers, didn't immediately return McClatchy News' request for comment June 9. Gutierrez was found with more than 4,800 images of adults sexually abusing children, as well as children engaged in sex acts with other children, on his phone, according to prosecutors. Between November 2023 and July 2024, prosecutors said he shared child sexual abuse content over three messaging platforms: iMessage, Telegram and WhatsApp. In a separate case involving Telegram and child exploitation in Washington State, federal prosecutors announced on June 2 that a man, described as a 'repeat violent sex offender,' was sentenced to 15 years in prison in connection with a Telegram group he ran to arrange 'pedophilic relationships,' McClatchy News reported. Alan Lewis Meirhofer, 72, was caught sharing child sexual abuse content over Telegram and trying to 'set up' his adult friends, other registered sex offenders, with minors, according to prosecutors. Telegram, with its 'end-to-end encryption' feature, offers a certain level of privacy for text messages and video calls. The platform's CEO Pavel Durov was arrested by authorities in France in August in connection with alleged crimes facilitated over the app, including child sexual abuse material being exchanged among users, Axios reported. As for Gutierrez, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and up to 30 years in federal prison on one count of child sexual exploitation, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. He also faces a lifetime of supervised release, a restitution order and a $250,000 fine. His sentencing is set for Sept. 12, prosecutors said. Concerns or suspicions about child sexual exploitation can be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline online or by calling 1-800-843-5678.
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Yahoo
Five members of north Minneapolis gang convicted on RICO, drugs charges
Five members of north Minneapolis gang convicted on RICO, drugs charges originally appeared on Bring Me The News. Five members of a north Minneapolis gang were convicted in federal court last week on charges including murder. On Thursday, a federal jury convicted five members of the Highs gang on various charges. The gang operates north of West Broadway Avenue in North Minneapolis. As members of the gang, the defendants were expected to retaliate against the rival Lows gang, which operates south of West Broadway Avenue, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The members convicted are: Tyreese Giles, 24 Trevaun Robinson, 29 William Banks, 35 Gregory Brown, 35 Josiah Taylor, 31 Giles, Robinson, Banks and Brown were convicted on federal RICO conspiracy charges. Giles was also convicted of committing a murder on behalf of the gang on Sept. 9, 2021, when he traveled to a store in Lows territory and fatally shot a Lows member, an apparent retaliatory attack to the killing of a Highs member just a few hours earlier at a Minneapolis barbershop. Taylor was convicted of conspiring to distribute controlled substances and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. 'The Highs have long terrorized north Minneapolis, bringing drugs, violence, and murder into our community,' Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson said in a statement. 'This verdict represents yet another step in our fight against gang violence. I want to thank the coalition of federal, state, and local law enforcement partners who joined together to investigate and prosecute this violent criminal street gang. I also want to thank the Justice Department's Violent Crime & Racketeering Section for lending their expertise and partnering with the U.S. Attorney's Office on our RICO cases.' The trial was the second of back-to-back trials involving members of the Highs gang. The third trial will begin Monday. In total, more than 40 defendants are charged in the case. This story was originally reported by Bring Me The News on Jun 8, 2025, where it first appeared.
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Miami Herald
Man running late for flight makes fake bomb threat to delay takeoff, feds say
A Michigan man arriving at the Detroit airport too late to board his California-bound flight called in a fake bomb threat to delay its takeoff, federal officials reported. John Charles Robinson, 23, of Monroe, Michigan, was arrested a day later on Friday, June 6, when he arrived at the airport to board another flight, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan said in a news release. Robinson was turned away at the gate for Spirit Airlines Flight 2145, bound for Los Angeles, after arriving late at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Thursday, June 5, prosecutors said. At 6:25 a.m., Robinson used a cell phone to call the airline to make a false threat about a bomb on the airliner, prosecutors said. 'There's gonna be someone that's gonna try to blow up that flight, 2145,' Robinson said, according to prosecutors. He gave a fake description of the supposed bomber. 'They're still threatening to do it, they're still (attempting) to do it, they said it's not going to be able to be detected. Please don't let that flight board,' he said, according to prosecutors. Robinson later confessed he hoped to delay takeoff so he would not miss the flight, the Detroit Free Press reported. Instead, authorities removed passengers from the airliner, canceled the flight and searched the plane with bomb-sniffing dogs, prosecutors said. No explosives were found. The passengers boarded another flight to Los Angeles later that day, according to The Detroit News. Robinson rebooked his flight and was arrested when he returned to the airport on charges including using a cellphone to threaten/maliciously convey false information in an attempt or alleged attempt to damage or destroy an airplane using an explosive, the newspaper reported. 'No American wants to hear the words 'bomb' and 'airplane' in the same sentence,' said U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr., in the release. 'Making this kind of threat undermines our collective sense of security and wastes valuable law enforcement resources In a statement to WWJ-TV, Spirit Airlines said the 'safety of our Guests and Team Members is our top priority.'
