5 individuals who labored on the Rikers Island jail advanced in New York Metropolis, in addition to a detainee there, have been charged with corruption, together with smuggling contraband into the jail, in line with three complaints unsealed in Manhattan federal courtroom on Tuesday.
Federal prosecutors mentioned that in 2021 and 2022, a number of former metropolis correction officers, a Division of Correction worker and an worker of a division contractor accepted bribes to smuggle in cellphones, oxycodone, marijuana, fentanyl and an artificial drug often known as K2.
Their actions made Rikers Island “much less secure, for inmates and officers alike,” Damian Williams, the U.S. legal professional for the Southern District of New York, mentioned in a press release, including that the defendants “engaged in corruption for their very own enrichment.”
“There may be zero tolerance for anybody — workers or guests — who makes an attempt to convey contraband and narcotics into our jails,” Lynelle Maginley-Liddie, the commissioner for the Correction Division, mentioned in a press release.
5 of the defendants had been arrested on Tuesday; the sixth was already in state custody. Attorneys for the defendants couldn’t instantly be recognized.
Throughout the interval during which the officers and different staff are accused of smuggling medicine into the jail, visitation had stopped due to the coronavirus pandemic, however the variety of overdoses within the metropolis’s jail system had spiked.
In 2021, there have been 113 overdoses in metropolis jails that required a 911 name — a 55 p.c enhance from the earlier yr, in line with knowledge from Correctional Well being Providers, the company that gives well being care to detainees. In 2022, 5 of the 19 individuals who died within the jails or quickly after launch had overdosed on medicine.
In one of many unsealed complaints, investigators mentioned that from December 2021 by means of February 2022, Carlos Rivera, 27, of Yonkers, N.Y., a correction officer on the North Infirmary Command on the time, met within the Bronx with associates of an detainee to select up contraband, together with cellphones and medicines, to convey into the jail for that inmate.
Throughout an interview with officers in June 2022, Mr. Rivera estimated that he had acquired round $500 in bribes through Money App, a cellular fee service, in line with the criticism.
Mr. Rivera was charged with conspiracy to commit trustworthy providers wire fraud and conspiracy to distribute narcotics and managed substances. Every cost carries a most penalty of 20 years in jail.
In one other criticism, investigators mentioned that from March by means of not less than April 2022, Chantal de los Santos, 30, a former correction officer, labored with two inmates to bribe Shanequa Washington, 39, a correction program counselor, to smuggle contraband into the jail.
Ms. de los Santos gave Ms. Washington paper sheets that federal authorities consider had been soaked in managed substances. Ms. Washington introduced the sheets into the jail and gave them to an inmate with whom she was in a romantic relationship, investigators mentioned. That inmate and one other detainee then offered among the sheets to different inmates.
Ms. Washington acquired not less than $4,000 in funds from the sale of the sheets, the criticism mentioned. After smuggling in sheets on one other event, she acquired greater than $6,500 on Money App.
Ms. de los Santos additionally labored with inmates to bribe Kenneth Webster, 42, who labored for a contractor that supplied providers at Rikers Island, to smuggle in contraband, the criticism mentioned. Ms. de los Santos gave Mr. Webster cigarettes, alcohol, cellphones, digital tablets and paper sheets that seemed to be soaked in managed substances. Mr. Webster introduced the contraband to 2 inmates, who later offered it to others; in return, Ms. de los Santos paid him in money, investigators mentioned.
Ms. de los Santos was charged with one depend of conspiracy to commit bribery, which carries a most penalty of 5 years in jail. She was additionally charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit trustworthy providers wire fraud.
Ms. Washington and Mr. Webster had been charged with conspiracy to commit trustworthy providers wire fraud; Ms. Washington was additionally charged with conspiracy to commit bribery.
Within the third criticism, investigators mentioned that roughly between July and August 2021, Stephanie Davila, 30, a former correction officer, conspired with Kristopher Francisco, 29, an inmate, to bribe one other correction officer to smuggle in contraband. Ms. Davila and Mr. Francisco had been in a romantic relationship and paid the opposite officer money to smuggle in fentanyl, marijuana, K2, cigarettes and cellphones, the criticism mentioned.
Ms. Davila and Mr. Francisco had been each charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit trustworthy providers wire fraud and conspiracy to distribute narcotics and managed substances. The opposite correction officer is a cooperating witness.
After the complaints had been unsealed, the New York Metropolis Division of Investigation issued eight suggestions, together with that the Correction Division place canine items on the workers entrance at Rikers to display screen correction officers for medicine and that it rent contractors or exterior legislation enforcement to function entrance gate workers.
The Correction Division will evaluation the suggestions, in line with a spokeswoman. She added that physique scanners for workers and guests had been in place at three jails on Rikers and that extra ones can be added within the coming months.
The unsealing of the complaints comes amid efforts to shut the troubled jail advanced, which has been below scrutiny over excessive charges of violence and experiences of unsafe circumstances for detainees. New York Metropolis this week agreed to pay greater than $28 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the household of a person who suffered extreme mind harm after he tried to hold himself in a Rikers Island jail cell as a number of correction officers stood by.
Jan Ransom contributed reporting.
