Former Correctional Officer Sentenced To 43 Months In Prison For Bribery Scheme And Attempting To Assault Inmate He Suspected Of Cooperating With The Government

 

 Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that PERRY JOYNER, a former Bureau of Prisons correctional officer, was sentenced today to 43 months in prison for smuggling contraband into the Metropolitan Correctional Center (“MCC”) in exchange for over $70,000 in bribes from inmates and for attempting to have an inmate assaulted to keep that inmate from reporting JOYNER’s crimes to law enforcement.  JOYNER pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. on December 14, 2022.  Judge Carter imposed today’s sentence.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said:  “Correctional officers are entrusted to care for and maintain custody and control over inmates.  Perry Joyner violated that trust repeatedly by soliciting and receiving bribes from inmates and by attempting to coordinate the assault of an inmate whom he believed was cooperating with the Government.  This sentence should send a message to correctional officers: you will be held accountable when you violate your sworn duty to ensure the care, custody, and control of our nation’s inmate population.”

According to the Indictment, public court filings, and statements made in court proceedings:

From at least October 2019 through February 2020, JOYNER, a correctional officer at the MCC, received approximately $77,894 in bribe payments from MCC inmates or their associates in exchange for JOYNER smuggling to inmates drugs (including, but not limited to, oxycodone, alprazolam, Suboxone, marijuana, and K2), cellphones, cigarettes, and alcohol.  MCC inmates then used, sold, or exchanged that contraband amongst themselves and resold it to other inmates.  

In or about February 2020, JOYNER believed a particular inmate (“Inmate-1”), who had previously bribed JOYNER, was cooperating with the Government.  In response, JOYNER requested other inmates slash or otherwise assault Inmate-1 as retribution and intimidation.  Before any inmate followed through on JOYNER’s request, Inmate-1 was moved out of the MCC.

In addition to today’s prison sentence, JOYNER, 30, of Orange, New Jersey, was sentenced to two years of supervised release ordered to forfeit $77,894.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General; Special Agents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York; and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in New York.