FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Former Correction Officer, Inmate and Inmate’s Girlfriend Indicted in
Connection with Alleged Attempt to Smuggle Marijuana into Brooklyn Jail
Contraband Detected by Drug Sniffing Dog;
Face Bribe Receiving, Conspiracy and Other Charges
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Mark G. Peters, today announced that a former correction officer, an inmate and the inmate’s girlfriend have been variously charged with bribery, conspiracy and other charges for allegedly attempting to smuggle marijuana into the Brooklyn Detention Complex. It is alleged that the correction officer met with the inmate’s girlfriend and received cash and contraband. The marijuana was discovered two days later by a trained canine when the defendant showed up to work.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “We expect our public servants to have the utmost integrity, especially when safety is involved. The defendants in this case corrupted this trust and I now intend to hold all of them accountable. My Office will continue to work closely with DOI and other law enforcement partners to make sure that bribery schemes and other forms of corruption are investigated and prosecuted.”
Commissioner Peters said, “Integrity should be the rule for any Correction Officer hired to ensure the safety and security of our City’s jails. This defendant, working with the aid of an inmate and associate, allegedly sold out that core value for cash by attempting to smuggle contraband, according to the charges. DOI and its drug-sniffing canine exposed the scheme. DOI will continue to work with our partners like the Brooklyn District Attorney to stem the flow of dangerous contraband into our jail facilities.”
The District Attorney identified the defendants as former Correction Officer Patrick Gaillard, 30, of Brooklyn, Adam Franco, 23, of Staten Island, and Samantha Pereira, 27, of Staten Island. Gaillard and Pereira were arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun, who ordered them released without bail. Franco is scheduled to be arraigned next week. All three defendants are charged with second-degree promoting prison contraband and fifth-degree conspiracy. Franco and Pereira are also charged with third-degree bribery. Gaillard is additionally charged with third-degree bribe receiving, third-degree corrupting the government, official misconduct and fifth-degree criminal possession of marijuana. The defendants each face up to seven years in prison if convicted of the top count with which they are charged.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, between March 18, 2018 and April 4, 2018, phone calls were allegedly placed between Pereira and Franco, her boyfriend who was jailed in the Brooklyn Detention Complex in connection with a pending robbery case in New York County. The conversations included discussions about money, packaging and a meeting with a third party, according to the indictment.
It is alleged that on April 4, 2018, Gaillard met Pereira on Gallatin Place in Downtown Brooklyn and received a quantity of marijuana and $1,150. It is further alleged that on April 6, 2018, at about 7 a.m., when Gaillard showed up to his regularly-scheduled shift at the Brooklyn Detention Complex on Atlantic Avenue, a trained canine alerted investigators to the presence of drugs. A subsequent search recovered about two ounces of marijuana from the defendant’s pants pocket. Gaillard resigned from his job on April 11, 2018.
The case was investigated by DOI’s Office of the Inspector General for DOC, specifically, Investigator Ali Fayad; Assistant Inspector General Carmelo Galarza and K-9 Gunner, under the supervision of Assistant Inspector General Sony Fortune, Assistant Inspector General Gladys Cambi and Deputy Inspectors General Reginald Barometre, Whitney Ferguson and Richard Askin, and overall supervision by Inspector General Dana A. Roth, Associate Commissioner Paul Cronin, Deputy Commissioner/Chief of Investigations Susan Lambiase, and First Deputy Commissioner Lesley Brovner.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Renee Hassel and Senior Assistant District Attorney Adam Libove, of the District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Michel Spanakos, Unit Chief, and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill, Deputy Chief of the Investigations Division, and Mark Feldman, Senior Executive Assistant for Crime Strategies and Investigations.
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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.