A correction officer at the troubled MDC Brooklyn federal jail showed up to work wearing a protective vest stuffed with pot, cigarettes and other contraband, federal prosecutors allege.
Najee Jackson, 32, who’d been on the job at the Metropolitan Detention Center for just over a year, tried to smuggle in the banned items when he reported for his night shift on Jan. 21, according to court filings. But he never got past the jail’s metal detector, which according to a criminal complaint also scans for unusually dense objects, federal prosecutors allege.
He triggered the detector’s alarm six times, removing his personal items, his two coats, and finally his vest, in an attempt to get past without the scanner beeping, the feds allege.
He cleared the detector without the vest, but a search of the garment ended his ruse, the feds allege. His fellow correction officers found four vacuum-sealed bags, three with cigarettes, the fourth with pot, according to a criminal complaint.
He also had two lighters and a box of rolling papers on him, the feds allege.
Two days later, Jackson quit his job, and on Wednesday, federal authorities arrested him.
He was arraigned in Brooklyn Federal Court Wednesday and ordered released on $10,000 bond. His lawyer declined comment Thursday.
“As alleged, Najee Jackson violated his duty and abused his position of trust as a correctional officer by attempting to smuggle contraband into the very institution he was sworn to protect,” U.S. Attorney John J. Durham said.
MDC Brooklyn, the city’s only federal jail, has been plagued by violence, horrific conditions and severe staffing shortages for years, drawing scrutiny from judges in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Long Island. The jail houses high-profile inmates like Sean “Diddy” Combs and alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione.
Jackson is the latest correction officer there charged with sneaking contraband inside. In August, Fabienne Osias, 40, admitted in federal court she tried to sneak five USB charging cubes and nine cables to an inmate.
In July, former Correction Officer Quandelle Joseph was sentenced to 2½ years behind bars for taking bribes to smuggle contraband into the federal jail.
Another correction officer, Leon Wilson, was busted in September on charges he chased a BMW for miles out of the jail’s staff parking lot in 2023 and shot one of its occupants, even though he had no legal authority to pursue the car past the jail’s property line.
Wilson’s defense lawyer defense lawyer said he was trying to prevent them from smuggling contraband into the jail.