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2 New York City correction officers plead guilty to bribery charges
By
Ann Givens
Published Sep 21, 2022
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David Howells/Corbis via Getty Images
By
Ann Givens
Published Sep 21, 2022
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Two Rikers Island correction officers pleaded guilty Tuesday to smuggling drugs and cell phones to incarcerated gang members, the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of New York said in a press release. They are among six people charged in the scheme.
New York City Correction Officer Katrina Patterson, 31, of Jamaica, New York, pleaded guilty to bribery, admitting that she accepted more than $34,000 in in exchange for smuggling narcotics and cell phones into Rikers Island for Michael Ross, a Bloods gang member incarcerated there on unrelated offenses, according to the release. Two other people, Ashley Medina and Imani Matthews, who were not incarcerated at the time, acted as go-betweens, paying Patterson the bribes and delivering the contraband to Ross, according to the press release. Ross has pleaded guilty to a bribery offense and is awaiting sentencing.
New York City Correction Officer Krystle Burrell also pleaded guilty to accepting bribes in exchange for smuggling cell phones to and facilitating drug sales by Terrae Hinds, an inmate at the Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers Island. Burrell accepted a total of nearly $10,000, the press release said. Charges against Hinds remain pending.
“These officers were tempted by greed to betray their duty,” said Homeland Security Investigations New York Acting Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel. “By taking bribes to smuggle prohibited contraband to incarcerated known gang members, they violated the oath they swore and became criminals themselves.”
"Katrina became a corrections officer with the goal of helping the troubled and neglected youth of this city," said Matthew Keller, an attorney representing Patterson. "She has accepted responsibility for the mistakes she made, and she looks forward to moving past this episode and pursuing that goal in some other capacity. Burrell’s lawyer, Michael O. Hueston, declined to comment on the plea.
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Ann Givens
Ann Givens is the Public Safety Editor at Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email: [email protected] or reach Ann on Signal at 917-434-0736.
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