Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Former Census Bureau official sentenced to prison for bribery and fraud scheme

A former U.S. Census Bureau supervisor has been sentenced after admitting involvement in a multimillion-dollar procurement fraud scheme involving kickbacks
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A former supervisory official with the U.S. Census Bureau was sentenced on July 16 to two years in federal prison for conspiring with a subcontractor to receive $790,000 in kickbacks related to a procurement fraud scheme.

U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby sentenced Camille Jones, 47, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, to two years in prison followed by one year of supervised release for conspiracy to commit bribery and honest-services fraud. Judge Griggsby also ordered Jones to forfeit the proceeds from the scheme.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence along with Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Department of Justice Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Eric Arcand from the Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General (DOC-OIG). “According to court documents, as part of her guilty plea, Camille Jones admitted that she steered a large employee assistant program contract to a prime contractor and a subcontracting company, YMJ Consulting, which is owned by Camille Jones’s relative, Yolanda M. Jones,” officials said. The contract was worth millions of dollars and resulted in kickbacks paid from YMJ Consulting and Yolanda Jones.

Prosecutors said that Camille Jones attempted to obstruct the investigation by drafting a service agreement between YMJ Consulting and her own mental health company in an effort to make kickback payments appear legitimate. Both parties signed this agreement in 2024 but backdated it to 2020; Yolanda Jones later provided this document during law enforcement’s investigation.

Camille Jones also admitted using her position at the Census Bureau to share confidential procurement information with another government contractor who then hired another relative for minimal work while paying $83,000; most work was performed by Camille Jones herself.

On August 14, 2025, Yolanda Jones pled guilty to conspiracy charges connected with bribery and honest services fraud; she is awaiting sentencing pending consideration by a federal district court judge based on statutory factors and sentencing guidelines. The U.S. Attorney’s Office commended DOC-OIG investigators as well as prosecutors Megan S. McKoy and Edward P. Sullivan for their roles in prosecuting this case.

The U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland serves nearly six million residents across Maryland through prosecution of federal crimes—including public corruption—handling civil cases on behalf of the United States government and collecting debts owed by citizens or businesses, according to the official website.

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