Officer cuffed for smuggling drugs into Rikers
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Former Department of Correction officer Ghislaine Barrientos was charged in federal court this week for allegedly smuggling drugs and other contraband into Rikers Island in exchange for cash payments from detainees. Photo via U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York
By Jacob Kaye
A former Rikers Island correctional officer was cuffed by federal authorities last week after prosecutors said she smuggled drugs into the notorious jail complex in exchange for cash payments from detainees.
Ghislaine Barrientos, a 37-year-old woman who previously worked as a correctional officer for the city’s Department of Correction, faces a host of federal charges for her alleged scheme to smuggle synthetic marijuana and cocaine into the city’s troubled jails. In exchange for bringing the drugs into Rikers and secretly distributing them to detainees, Barrientos allegedly got paid thousands of dollars.
Barrientos is only the latest officer working on Rikers Island to have been caught allegedly smuggling jails into the jail facilities.
“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,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, whose office is separately attempting to convince a judge to strip the city of its control of Rikers Island. “In our relentless pursuit of justice, we leave no stone unturned, especially within the confines of jails and prisons, where the safety and dignity of all individuals must be safeguarded.”
“We will not tolerate any breach of trust or corruption that jeopardizes the well-being of inmates and staff,” he added.
According to prosecutors, Barrientos, who lived in Westchester, regularly smuggled drugs and contraband into Rikers for at least one detainee, who sent a number of CashApp payments to the officer in return.
Former Department of Correction officer Ghislaine Barrientos allegedly attempted to smuggle drugs into Rikers Island in a bag that she had picked up from a Westchester convenience store. Photos via U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York
In addition to allegedly bringing the detainee pieces of paper that had been soaked in liquid synthetic marijuana – known as K2 – and cocaine, Barrientos also snuck meals into Rikers for the detainee, including a fried chicken feast, prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, Barrientos spoke to the detainee on April 11, 2024 about a package that would be sent to a deli in Westchester where Barrientos also worked.
Several days later, Barrientos was seen on surveillance footage walking into the detainees cell – video did not capture what went on inside the cell.
Two days later, the DOC searched the cell and found sheets of paper that later tested positive for cocaine, prosecutors said.
The detainee sent another package to Barrientos on April 24, according to the charges.
Later that day, Barrientos showed up for work at the Robert N. Davoren Complex on Rikers. When she was making her way through security, a drug-sniffing dog alerted other officers to Barrientos, who was later found to have been smuggling 10 sheets of paper drenched in K2 into the jail, according to the indictment.
Barrientos initially told law enforcement officers that she had never been asked by a detainee to bring contraband into the jails and denied knowing why a drug-sniffing dog would alert officers about her presence. When asked what they would find if they searched her car, Barrientos told the officers they’d likely find approximately $2,500 in cash, which she said she had brought from home.
When they made their way into the car, officers allegedly found approximately 25 sheets of paper that had previously been soaked in a liquid and an envelope with $2,466 inside it. They also allegedly found a cell phone that they later discovered contained messages between the officer and the detainee.
As the investigation into Barrientos continued, prosecutors said that they believed that the former correctional officer also worked with a second, unindicted detainee to smuggle in drugs in exchange for cash payments.
According to the feds, Barrientos received $9,400 in CashApp payments between February 2024 and April 2024 that were believed to have come from another detainee.
Barrientos, who was charged with conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and one count of false statements, faces up to 25 years in prison.
“The contraband trade destabilizes the city’s jails, and city correction officers play a vital role in maintaining order and keeping persons in custody, and their fellow officers, safe,” said Department of Investigations Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber. “But this defendant, as charged, ignored her obligations and violated the trust the City placed in her when she took bribes in exchange for smuggling dangerous narcotics and other contraband into Rikers Island jail facilities.”
Barrientos is far from the first officer to be arrested and charged for smuggling contraband into Rikers Island in recent years.
In September, the Bronx district attorney’s office charged 37-year-old Kendell Felix for allegedly smuggling hundreds of cigarettes and a cell phone into Rikers in exchange for a $3,000 bribe.
In June, Jason Skeet, a former officer from Brooklyn, was sentenced to 37 months in prison for smuggling marijuana, cigarettes and food into Rikers.
In April – around the same time Barrientos was allegedly smuggling drugs into the jail – a trio of officers, Carlos Rivera, Chantal De Los Santos and Stephanie Davila, were charged with bringing fentanyl, oxycodone, K2 and marijuana into Rikers.
The arrests of the officers come as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and the Legal Aid Society attempt to convince a federal judge that the city should no longer have the power to manage Rikers Island.
The request came after federal prosecutors in Williams’ office and the public defense firm said that the DOC had been unable to tamp down violent conditions on the island around 10 years after the judge first ordered them to do so.
Law enforcement officers found thousands in dollars in cash and a cell phone inside former correction officer Ghislaine Barrientos’ car after they allegedly caught her attempting to smuggle drugs into Rikers Island. Photo via U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York
Last month, prosecutors argued that the city was in contempt of federal Judge Laura Swain’s 2015 consent judgment. Swain has yet to issue a ruling in the case. However, the judge recently ordered the city to begin to meet with prosecutors and the Legal Aid Society to create a structure for a federal receivership, should she decide to order one.
