Bronx DA’s Office/Department of Investigation Probe Uncovers Web of Corruption; Two Correction Officers Received Thousands of Dollars in Bribes for Contraband Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark and Department of Investigation
Commissioner Mark G. Peters today announced that 17 people, including two New York City Department of Correction officers, a DOC-employed cook and six inmates, have been indicted for conspiring to bring scalpels, narcotics and other contraband into Rikers Island in exchange for thousands of dollars in bribes.
District Attorney Clark said, “These alleged schemes fed the climate of danger and fear that makes Rikers Island notorious for brutality, and they reveal the true scope of corruption that goes far beyond its shoreline. But these cases also show our determination to work with DOI to prosecute any and all perpetrators of crime inside Rikers Island. “Aside from tarnishing his badge by taking bribes from inmates, Correction Officer Kevin McKoy allegedly smuggled in scalpels,” District Attorney Clark continued. “Even after his fellow Correction Officer, Ray Calderon, was slashed on his face requiring 20 stitches and photos of his grisly wound were publicized, McKoy allegedly continued to bring in these weapons.”
Commissioner Peters said, “This case, a truly joint effort by DOI and the Bronx District Attorney, is the largest contraband smuggling takedown in more than a decade at Rikers Island. It involved an organized network of weapon and drug smugglers designed to spread contraband and create disorder within the jail, according to the indictment. The officer defendants not only sold out their badges and honor through their charged actions, but the safety of their fellow officers.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendants are charged in four indictments with a total of 84 counts including bribery, bribe receiving, promoting prison contraband, attempted possession and attempted sale of controlled substances and conspiracy. The two Correction Officers and the cook are also charged with official misconduct. According to the investigation, the alleged center of the main conspiracy is Kevin
McKoy, 31, who was a Correction Officer assigned to the Anna M. Kross Center (AMKC) Quad “12 Upper” housing area. He allegedly received bribes totaling at least $10,000 for bringing in scalpels wrapped in duct tape to avoid metal detector, K2, (synthetic marijuana) and suboxone (opioid) strips to inmates.
The main conspiracy allegedly took place from September 12, 2015 to November 24, 2015. Inmates would call family members or friends and instruct them to give contraband and cash to McKoy, whom they referred to as “The Plug,” “Ticks-and-Fleas” and other nicknames, and McKoy would contact them to arrange pickup of the items. McKoy was arrested on November 24, 2015 at AMKC with seven scalpels tucked
in a leg of his longjohns. Nine other scalpels were found in a search at his Brooklyn home, which McKoy admitted were also headed for the jail. McKoy made statements after his arrest that he had been bringing in contraband to inmates for money for about a year.
According to a separate indictment, another Correction Officer, Mohammed Sufian, 25, agreed to bring tobacco into AMKC for $1,000. He was arrested there on February 3, 2016 with the leafy substance in his socks.
McKoy and Sufian and other defendants were arraigned today, May 19, 2016, in Bronx Supreme Court before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Steven Barrett. If convicted, McKoy and Sufian face up to seven years in prison on each of the top counts of third degree Bribe Receiving.
Other defendants have been arrested over the past six months by DOI investigators. They include Darnell Wilson, 27, a cook in AMKC who was arrested at the front gate of the facility on February 25, 2016 with K2 (synthetic marijuana) and tobacco which he brought in inside his shoes. Wilson made statements after his arrest that he was receiving $200 a week since the summer of 2015 for bringing in K2 and tobacco.
District Attorney Clark thanked DOI’s Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Correction, specifically Assistant Inspector General Richard Askin and Special Investigator Michael Garcia, under the supervision of Inspector General Jennifer Sculco, Associate Commissioner Paul Cronin, Deputy Commissioner/Chief of Investigations Michael Carroll and First Deputy Commissioner Lesley Brovner. The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Ann Lee of the Public Integrity Bureau, under the supervision of Omer Wiczyk, Deputy Chief of the Public Integrity Bureau; James Goward, Chief of the Criminal Enterprise Bureau; Wanda Perez-Maldonado, Chief of the Public Integrity Bureau; Deanna G. Logan, Chief of the Rikers Island Prosecution Bureau; Mary Jo Blanchard, Counsel to the Investigations Division; Stuart Levy, Deputy Chief of the Investigations Division; and Jean T. Walsh, Executive Assistant District Attorney and Chief of the Investigations Division. An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.
DEFENDANTS: McKoy/Sufian Conspiracy
JACLYN ARCANGEL, 21, Civilian
DUNTRELL CALDERON, (aka “True”) 21, Inmate
BONITTI COOK, 21, Inmate
KELLY COPPINGER, 22, Civilian
RAFFAELE DESANTIS, 22, Civilian
VITTORIA DESANTIS, 22, Civilian
KEVIN MCKOY, 31, Correction Officer
TARA MEEKS, 23, Civilian
ANTHONY NICOLETTI, (aka “Mayhem”) 24, Inmate
MAURICE PARRISH, 28, Civilian
MOHAMMED SUFIAN, 25, Correction Officer
MICHAEL WILLIAMS (aka “B.M.”) 24, Inmate
MICHAEL WILLIAMS (note: B.M.’s brother), 19, Civilian
BRANDON VILELLA (aka: “Mook Money”), 29, Inmate
DEFENDANTS: AMKC Cook case
DARRYL WILSON, 27, DOC cook
ERNEST SOBERANIS, (aka “Intel”) 46, Inmate
CARINA HOLDER, 20, Civilian
