Pelham Man Among NYC Jailers Accused Of Smuggling Contraband

PELHAM, NY — A Pelham resident is among nine current employees or officers of the New York City Department of Correction accused of taking bribes in return for smuggling scalpels, razor blades, drugs, alcohol, and cellphones and other contraband to inmates in NYC jails.

Seven defendants were arrested Wednesday in New York, one in Pennsylvania, and one in Virginia.

Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Margaret Garnett, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation, announced the unsealing of the indictments.

In all, more than $86,000 changed hands.

"These charged crimes ... reflect the pernicious and damaging impact of corruption," DOI Commissioner Margaret Garnett said in the announcement. "Correction officers and staff should protect the integrity of the jails, not promote lawlessness and violence by accepting bribes in return for trafficking drugs, scalpels, razor blades, cell phones, and other contraband – all highly valued, illegal items that undermine order in the jails and compromise the safety of other correction officers and inmates."

The oldest of the group is Brian Harrell of Pelham. Prosecutors said Harrell abused his position as a correction officer to smuggle K2, alcohol, cigarettes, and other contraband into the Manhattan Detention Complex, in return for more than $6,500 in bribes, from at least May through June 2020.

Harrell, 60, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit federal crimes, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, one count of federal program bribery, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years, one count of honest services wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, and one count of distribution of a controlled substances analogue, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.

The others are:

• MIGUEL COMPRES, 35, of New York City, who is accused smuggling scalpels, smokable synthetic cannabinoids, often referred to as “K2” or “Spice,” cellphones, and large quantities of cigarettes into the Manhattan Detention Complex in downtown Manhattan while a correction officer, in return for over $6,000 in bribes.
• TAMEKA LEWIS, 41, of Brooklyn, who prosecutors said abused her position as a counselor with the Department of Correction to smuggle K2 and other contraband into the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island, in return for over $40,000 in bribes, from at least in or about June 2019 up through and including in or about September 2020.
• DARIEL DIAZ, 33, of Reading, Pennsylvania, who is accused of abusing his position as a correction officer to smuggle K2, a cellphone, and large quantities of cigarettes into the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island, in return for over $8,000 in bribes, from at least in or about March 2020 up through and including in or about September 2020.
• JASMINE REED, 34, of Norfolk, Virginia, who prosecutors said abused her position as an exterminator with the Department of Correction to smuggle a razor, K2, marijuana, cigarettes, a cellphone, and other contraband into the Manhattan Detention Complex in downtown Manhattan in return for cash bribes, from at least in or about September 2019 up through and including in or about December 2019.
• TEMAINE PELZER, 45, of Brooklyn, accused of abusing his position as a correction officer to smuggle cigarettes and other contraband into the Manhattan Detention Complex, in return for over $8,000 in bribes, from at least in or about August 2019 up through and including in or about February 2020.
• RASHAWN ASSANAH, 25, of Queens, who prosecutors said smuggled a cellphone, a large quantity of cigarettes, and other contraband into the Robert N. Davoren Center on Rikers Island while a correction officer, in return for over $7,500 in bribes, from at least in or about November 2020 up through and including in or about February 2021.
• ROBERT BALDUCCI, 33, of the Bronx, accused of smuggling razor blades, marijuana, and other contraband into the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island while a correction officer, in return for at least $5,000 in bribes, in or about October 2020.
• JOHNATHAN GARRETT, 32, of Brooklyn, accused of smuggling methamphetamine, K2, and other contraband into the Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers Island while a correction officer, in return for at least $5,000 in bribes, from at least in or about September 2020 up through and including in or about October 2020.

"We shouldn’t have to remind public servants that accepting bribes while conducting illegal activity could constitute a federal crime, but when necessary, that’s exactly what we’ll do," FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said.