Posted on: January 09, 2025 08:36 PM

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Former corrections officer pleads guilty to accepting bribes in exchange for smuggling narcotics into Rikers Island

Acting U.S. Attorney Edward Y. Kim said: “Ghislaine Barrientos took bribes when working as a corrections officer at Rikers Island.  Rikers Island is less safe, for inmates and officers alike, when corrections officers and others in positions of public trust accept bribes to smuggle contraband.  We will not tolerate any breach of trust or corruption that jeopardizes the well-being of inmates and staff.”

As reflected in the Complaint, Information, and statements made in court:

BARRIENTOS, a former New York City Department of Correction (“DOC”) correction officer, conspired with others to smuggle contraband, including cocaine, smokeable synthetic cannabinoids (known as “K2”), and food to inmates housed at the Robert N. Davoren Complex on Rikers Island in exchange for thousands of dollars in bribe payments.

For example, on April 11, 2024, CC-1, an associate of an inmate (“Inmate-1”), and BARRIENTOS discussed CC-1 sending BARRIENTOS a package through a delivery service.  On April 15, 2024, surveillance footage showed BARRIENTOS entering Inmate-1’s cell, where surveillance footage could not capture her actions.  Two days later, DOC searched Inmate-1’s cell and recovered sheets of paper that tested positive for the presence of cocaine.

On April 24, 2024, CC-1 sent BARRIENTOS another package using the delivery service.  When BARRIENTOS went to work later that day, a drug-detecting canine alerted for the presence of narcotics.  DOC employees searched BARRIENTOS’s belongings and found approximately 10 sheets of paper that tested positive for the presence of K2.  In an interview with law enforcement, BARRIENTOS falsely stated, among other things, that no inmate had ever asked her to bring them contraband.  Law enforcement officers then searched BARRIENTOS’s vehicle and recovered additional sheets of paper, as well as approximately $2,466 in cash, as shown in the following photographs:

From DOJ