Federal judge sentences convict to house arrest rather than ‘barbaric’ Brooklyn prison

August 8, 2024 Robert Abruzzese, Courthouse Editor

Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), notorious for its dangerous and barbaric conditions, which prompted a federal judge to rule house arrest for a 74-year-old tax fraudster instead of incarceration at the facility. Photo by John Minchillo/AP

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Brooklyn’s federal prison is so bad that one judge is electing to sentence a criminal to house arrest instead of sending him to the long-troubled prison in Sunset Park.

U.S. District Court Judge Gary Brown ruled that 74-year-old tax fraudster Daniel Colucci will avoid prison time if the Bureau of Prisons designates Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) as his facility, citing the jail’s “dangerous, barbaric conditions” in a decision published on Monday.

Judge Brown sentenced Colucci to nine months behind bars on Monday but included a provision to switch the sentence to house arrest if he is assigned to the MDC, which has been plagued by reports of severe understaffing and violence. Brown’s ruling references numerous incidents at the Sunset Park jail, including a recent stabbing caught on video that highlights the facility’s chronic lack of supervision and medical care.

“If for some reason the federal Bureau of Prisons sends Colucci to the MDC, that sentence will be vacated,” Judge Brown ruled, detailing the “dangerous, barbaric conditions” that Colucci could face.

The judge discussed incidents such as a stabbing on April 27, which was captured on video, showing a lone correction officer arriving 37 seconds into the three-on-one assault. The victim staggered away unassisted as the officer chased the attackers. In June and July, two MDC inmates were stabbed to death less than six weeks apart.

“Allegations of inadequate supervision, unbridled assaults and lack of sufficient medical care are supported by an increasing body of evidence,” Judge Brown wrote. “Each of the five months preceding this opinion was marred by instances of catastrophic violence at MDC, including two apparent homicides, two gruesome stabbings, and an assault so severe that it resulted in a fractured eye socket for the victim.”

Colucci was convicted of a nearly $1 million series of tax frauds, including schemes where he misappropriated sums withheld from his employees’ paychecks that were intended for tax payments and intentionally failed to make employer matching contributions.

“Crimes against the “public fisc” — funds intended for the maintenance of government programs to benefit the public good — are very serious,” Judge Brown wrote. “Yet this crime goes beyond a simple theft of tax monies.”

Though these crimes merit incarceration, Judge Brown expressed concern about Colucci, who has a host of medical problems and a recent cancer diagnosis, being subjected to the conditions at MDC. The judge’s decision adds to a growing list of federal judges in New York’s Eastern and Southern Districts decrying the conditions at MDC.

Colucci remains free under supervision as he awaits his prison designation. If sent to MDC, his sentence will be converted to nine months of home incarceration with electronic monitoring.