A federal indictment was unsealed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, charging a former private prisoner transport officer with sexually assaulting a female pretrial detainee during a prisoner transport and using a firearm in furtherance of his sexual assault.
According to the indictment, at the time of the alleged crime, Marquet Johnson, 44, worked as a private prisoner transport officer for Inmate Services Corporation, a company that was hired by local jails and prisons throughout the country to transport people who had been arrested pursuant to out-of-state warrants and needed to be transported back to the states that had issued the warrants.
Count one of the indictment charges Johnson, while acting under color of law, with willfully depriving a female pretrial detainee whom he was transporting from New Mexico to Colorado of her constitutional right to bodily integrity. The indictment alleges that Johnson’s conduct included the use of a dangerous weapon and aggravated sexual abuse. Count two charges Johnson with knowingly using, carrying and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of this crime of violence.
If convicted of the crimes charged, Johnson faces a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison for brandishing his firearm, and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated the case, with assistance from the Bernalillo County Sherrif’s Office.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez for the District of New Mexico and Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office made the announcement.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Brawley for the District of New Mexico and Trial Attorney Laura Gilson of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.
This investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with additional information is encouraged to call the Albuquerque FBI Field Office at (505) 889-1300.
An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
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