Former correctional officer Darial Diaz admitted to smuggling contraband into Rikers Island to appease hostile gang inmates.
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Corruption within the ranks of Rikers Island correction officers is so rife that one convicted jail guard claims he smuggled medication into the power in a tragic try to hold his personal job.
Former guard Darial Diaz, 33, smuggled Ok-2, cigarettes and a cellphone into the George R. Vierno lockup on the island in an effort to maintain “peace” amongst gang members housed in his unit, his lawyer mentioned in a sentencing memo in his Manhattan federal court docket case.
Within the court docket submitting, the ex-guard’s legal professional claims Diaz smuggled the contraband in 2020 as a result of he desperately wished to realize full-time employment on the jail – and wanted inmates in his unit to behave for a shot on the promotion.
Diaz was finishing two years of probationary employment that's required for full-time work with the Division of Correction when he started smuggling, in accordance with the submitting.
“The fact at Rikers, the place the inmates overwhelmingly outnumber the guards, is that the gangs management each facet of life on the models. If there have been fights, stabbings, and different disturbances within the unit, Diaz wouldn't get accredited for full time employment on the jail, a place he was wanting to safe,” his legal professional, Avrom Robin, wrote.
Diaz couldn’t flip to his superiors at work for recommendation on the best way to management the inmates as a result of he thought they might shrug it off and inform him it’s not their drawback, the court docket papers state.
His superiors have been additionally turning a blind eye to smuggling on the jail, Diaz’s legal professional alleged.
“Corrections Officers smuggling in contraband for inmates is a routine a part of life at Rikers,” Robin wrote.
“The captain answerable for the housing unit would come by means of and stroll round, and knew what was happening, in accordance with Diaz. That's, the captain knew inmates had cellphones, cigarettes, and worse, and he knew that correctional officers like Diaz have been smuggling that contraband in,” he added.
So Diaz conspired with a gang member within the housing unit to sneak within the contraband after being paid some $8,000, in accordance with charging paperwork towards him.
Diaz met with co-conspirators exterior of the jail to drag off the caper, which included smuggling a paper soaked in Ok-2, his lawyer wrote.
“Though Diaz didn’t want the cash, he did want peace and order in his unit at Rikers, as a result of with out that he would by no means get off probation and be promoted to a everlasting place,” the submitting states.
The corrupt guard was arrested in Might 2021 and copped to conspiracy and bribery for the smuggling operation.
He’s scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 27.
Diaz’s legal professional didn't instantly reply. A spokesperson for the Division of Correction declined to remark.
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