Houston boutique owner tied to bribery scandal involving city’s health department, prosecutors say

HOUSTON – There is now more fallout from the 2021 raid at the Houston Health Department.

At the time of the 2021 raid, the investigation focused on a former administrative and community outreach coordinator named Barry Barnes, who pled guilty to accepting bribes from three vendors.

• RELATED: GUILTY: Houston Health Department official Barry Barnes admits taking bribes in federal court, US Attorney says

Federal court documents revealed one of those businesses is Melodrama Boutique, which is owned by Juquita “Jackie” Adams.

Federal investigators say Barnes and Adams developed a scheme where he would award $30,000 to Adam’s boutique for advertising services. Court documents show Adams would then give Barnes a $5,000 kickback payment, “which Barnes then intended to use for his own personal enrichment.”

The federal government intends to seek forfeiture of Adams’ property if she is convicted of federal program bribery.

She is due in a federal courtroom on March 31 at 2 p.m.