BK Jail Guard Sexually Abused Inmates And Smuggled Drugs: Feds

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — A Brooklyn jail guard will spend a decade behind bars for sexually abusing three female inmates and accepting bribes to smuggling K2 and Suboxone into the men, according to prosecutors.

Armando Moronta, 40, was sentenced in Brooklyn Federal Court Wednesday on sexual abuse, bribery and narcotics charges stemming from his tenure as a Metropolitan Detention Center correctional officer between March and December 2016, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney of New York's Eastern District.

Moronta forced three incarcerated women to have sex with him inside the Guard’s Office while he was guarding their unit between May and June 2016, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors also charged Moronta with accepting $15,000 to smuggle cellphones and drugs about a dozen times in to the jail on 29th Street and Third Avenue.

“Over a period of months, Moronta flagrantly violated his sworn duty as a law enforcement officer, sexually abused inmates entrusted to his supervision and undermined the safety of his fellow officers and others in exchange for bribes," said United States Attorney Richard Donoghue. “Today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of the defendant’s crimes."

The Brooklyn man pleaded guilty in November 2017 and resigned from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in December, said prosecutors.

Moronta will also have to forfeit the bribe payments and register as a sex offender, prosecutors said.

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