Corrections officer admits to taking bribes to smuggle drugs into Brooklyn jail

March 23, 2023 Robert Abruzzese

A former federal corrections officer in Brooklyn, 32-year-old Jeremy Monk, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to receiving bribes in exchange for providing contraband to prison inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center. Photo: John Minchillo/AP.

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SUNSET PARK — Former federal correction officer Jeremy Monk has pleaded guilty to receiving bribes in exchange for providing contraband to prison inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn.

The guilty plea was made in federal court in Brooklyn on Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge James Cho. When sentenced, the defendant could face a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment.

“The defendant has admitted to violating his duty as a federal correction officer by taking bribes in exchange for smuggling contraband into the Metropolitan Detention Center, a serious betrayal of his fellow correction officers and staff, incarcerated individuals, and the trust placed in him by the government,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “This Office is focused on rooting out corruption that threatens the safety and security of our federal and local jails.”

According to court documents and facts presented at the guilty plea proceeding, Monk, who is now 32 years old, worked as a correction officer at the MDC from May 2020 until he voluntarily resigned on April 18, 2022. On multiple occasions, Monk smuggled contraband into the MDC in exchange for bribes.

On December 5, 2020, MDC staff members conducted a search of the cell of an incarcerated individual after they claimed they smelled cannabis. They didn’t find any cannabis, but staffers recovered a cellular telephone. On the phone, they found payment attempts from the inmates’ “romantic partner” to Monk via in amounts ranging from $750 to $4,000.

On April 15, 2022, three days before Monk resigned, MDC staff learned that Monk had agreed to accept $10,000 from inmates in exchange for smuggling contraband into the MDC and leaving it in a staff restroom. That afternoon, Monk was observed entering the staff restroom consistent with the information MDC staff received. Afterward, MDC staff found more than nine ounces of marijuana hidden on a shelf under floor buffing pads.