NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Three current and six former Department of Correction employees have been arrested and charged with smuggling razor blades, K2, alcohol and other contraband into New York City jails in exchange for bribes, prosecutors say.
Current correction officers Brian Harrell, 60, and Robert Balducci, 33, and former officers Miguel Compres, 35, Dariel Diaz, 33, Temaine Pelzer, 45, Rashawn Assanah, 25, and Johnathan Garrett, 32, were all charged with taking bribes on Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said in a press release.
Current DOC associate correctional counselor Tameka Lewis, 41, and former DOC exterminator Jasmine Reed, 34, were also charged with accepting bribes on Wednesday, the attorney’s office said.
“These defendants were responsible for maintaining a safe and orderly environment in New York City’s jails,” U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a statement. “Instead, as alleged, they abused their positions to enrich themselves by smuggling weapons, drugs and other dangerous contraband in return for thousands of dollars of cash bribes.”
Prosecutors say all nine of the defendants accepted thousands of dollars from prisoners at jails including the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island, the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island and the Manhattan Detention Complex in exchange for smuggling in contraband.
The contraband they snuck in included K2, cigarettes, cell phones, razors, marijuana, alcohol and methamphetamine, prosecutors say.
Harrell, Balducci and Lewis have all been suspended without pay, the DOC said Wednesday.
“The arrest of nine current and former staff members who are being charged with corruption and misconduct is deeply disturbing,” DOC Commissioner Cynthia Brann said in a statement provided to 1010 WINS.
“We have zero tolerance for behavior that makes our jails more dangerous and puts our hardworking staff and the people who live in our facilities at risk,” she added. “This is the type of misconduct that warrants termination.”