LEXINGTON, Ky. — A former recreation specialist at the Federal Medical Center in Lexington admitted Friday that she engaged in sexual contact with an inmate under her supervision and accepted $500 in payments in exchange for smuggling contraband and shielding him from discipline, according to a newly filed plea agreement.
Ariell L. Zulewski, who worked at FMC Lexington from late 2023 into early 2024, pleaded guilty to one count of abusive sexual contact and one count of receiving an illegal gratuity during an arraignment before U.S. District Judge Karen K. Caldwell. She waived indictment and entered the plea to a two-count information filed earlier that morning.
Zulewski, represented by court-appointed attorney Benjamin D. Allen, remains free on bond while she awaits sentencing on Feb. 13, 2026.
Sexual contact in federal prison
According to the plea agreement, Zulewski admitted that between December 1, 2023, and February 29, 2024, she engaged in sexual contact with an inmate identified as “Person A,” who was under her custodial and disciplinary authority as a federal prison employee. Prosecutors say the inmate touched her buttocks, genitals, breast and inner thigh with the intent to arouse her, and that she also touched his genital area through his clothing.
The agreement says Zulewski had been trained that any sexual contact between Bureau of Prisons staff and inmates is a federal crime, regardless of consent, because inmates in custody cannot legally consent.
Smuggling and Cash App payments
Zulewski also admitted bringing Person A tobacco and vape products and communicating with him on an illegal cell phone he possessed inside the facility. She acknowledged that she knew he had the phone because she sent him nude photographs and talked to him on the device.
Under Bureau of Prisons policy, staff must write an incident report within 24 hours after witnessing or reasonably believing an inmate committed a prohibited act, such as possessing contraband. Zulewski never reported the inmate, prosecutors said.
Instead, she accepted two Cash App payments totaling $500 — one on December 9, 2023, and another on January 17, 2024 — in exchange for supplying contraband and refraining from reporting the violations.
The plea agreement states she accepted the payments “for providing Person A with contraband and not reporting him,” conduct that prosecutors say constitutes receipt of an illegal gratuity by a public official.
Possible sentence and sex-offender registration
Each charge carries a maximum sentence of two years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Under the agreement, both sides expect the advisory sentencing guidelines to start with base offense levels of 12 and 11, with enhancements for supervisory control, multiple gratuities, and her position as a sensitive public official. Those are expected to be grouped together under federal guideline rules.
Zulewski also agreed to register as a sex offender after her release — a requirement under federal law for anyone convicted of abusive sexual contact in a custodial setting.
