Crossroads Brooklyn Detention Center Staff Smuggled Guns, Drugs: Feds

Five youth development specialists at a Brooklyn juvenile detention center were charged Wednesday with smuggling weapons, drugs and other contraband in exchange for bribes, officials said.

By infiltrating and distributing dangerous contraband into the Crossroads Juvenile Center in Brownsville, city employees violated their sworn duty and destabilized the detention center while endangering the lives of youth and other adult members Staff.

“These so-called 'youth development specialists' violated their duties to the city and the residents of Crossroads by smuggling in weapons, drugs and other contraband in exchange for bribes “Today's arrests demonstrate that this office remains committed to rooting out corruption and cleaning up corruption. prisons and juvenile detention centers in our city.

Youth development specialists, who work for the city's Children's Services Administration agency, take on roles similar to those of a correctional officer in a correctional facility, officials said.

Prosecutors said the employees raked in thousands of dollars in exchange for smuggling razor blades, prescription drugs, alcohol, marijuana and phone accessories.

Nearly 120 residents aged 14 to 20 are housed in the detention centre and are barred from drugs, weapons, alcohol, cigarettes and cell phones, among other things.

ACS employees are supposed to confiscate any contraband and must notify a supervisor if they find prohibited items, officials said.

Employees must also be screened every time they enter the facility. Even so, a significant amount of contraband has appeared among Crossroads residents, officials said.

This includes at least 75 cell phones, more than 340 scalpels or blades as well as narcotics and tobacco between March 2022 and May 2024.

One of the suspects, former ACS employee Octavia Napier, 26, even allowed a Crossroads resident to use her Cash App account to run his contraband distribution business from the center in exchange for 2 $000 in bribes.

Da'Vante Bolton, 31, Roger Francis, 58, Christopher Craig, 37, and Nigel King, 45, were also arrested. They were charged in Brooklyn Federal Court with conspiracy to commit travel bribery.

If convicted, they each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Bolton appears to be the biggest moneymaker of the group. Authorities say he accepted more than $20,000 from Crossroads residents or their associates, and smuggled razor blades and marijuana in exchange for the bribes.