A group of 25 inmates and accomplices tied to Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center were charged in a slate of cases connected to violence and smuggling at the infamous federal jail, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.
The group allegedly engaged in an array of illegal activity in the Sunset Park facility — from minor offenses such as pot smuggling to dangerous assaults caught on security camera. The charges include inmates as well as former correctional officers and people outside of the jail.
“The safety and security of our federal detention facilities is paramount,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York John Durham said. “As alleged, in several separate charging instruments, inmates viciously attacked fellow detainees, a correctional officer betrayed his duty by attempting to smuggle drugs into the facility, several inmates orchestrated elaborate contraband smuggling operations and yet another inmate continued to engage in fraud schemes while detained. These actions undermine the order and security of MDC-Brooklyn and endanger everyone within its walls.”
In one incident, Angel Villafane, a member of the gang Valentine Avenue Crew, used a bag of Doritos chips to smuggle into the jail a ball full of ceramic scalpels.
During a visit to the jail on Oct. 12, 2024, Villafane took out the blades and placed them under his shirt. Correctional officers later discovered the scalpels during a search, court papers stated.
It is unclear right now if the bag was empty or what flavor Doritos occupied.
The MDC, which once housed Ghislaine Maxwell for her role in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case, has come under heavy criticism in recent years for alleged inhumane conditions, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago. Last month, News12 reported, the MDC was closed to family visits following a bloody brawl that left numerous inmates injured — and six others hit with criminal charges.
Six inmates in bloody brawl caught on camera
In a separate incident, six inmates—Brian Castro, Franklin Gillespie, Juan Lopez, Jowenky Nunez Jr., Hugo Rodriguez, and Elvis Trejo—are facing charges for their roles in a brutal unit-wide fight at the prison that resulted in more than 20 inmates getting medical assessments.
Armed with weapons, the group chased and stabbed a fellow inmate 18 times during the brawl.
The victim required hospitalization for his injuries.
Other defendants, including Devone Thomas, were charged with possession of a contraband weapon. Thomas was previously charged with the June 7, 2024, killing of Uriel Whyte inside of the MDC Brooklyn. Tyquan Robinson has been charged with a five-count superseding indictment with conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and possession of contraband in prison.
Prosecutors also charged Mike Josie, Adil Duran, Erik Steadman, Javaughn Horton, Juan Lopez and Jose Rivera with other unrelated assaults at the MDC involving inmates over the past year.
Additional cases include the following:
• Jairon Ortega-Corea, an MS-13 gang associate, made a pit-stop at Walmart to get alcohol and phones for an attempt to smuggle it all into fellow gang members housed at the jail. An MDC employee found the retail contraband, as well as 345 grams of pot, on Dec. 2, 2024, according to court papers.
But Villafane and Ortega-Corea are far from the only smugglers involved in the MDC crime swoop. Daryl Campbell, Ian Diez, Jonathan Guerrero, Abel Mora and Mayovanex Rodriguez are charged by complaint with conspiracy to smuggle contraband into the facility between April and June 2024. In detailed voice recordings, Cambell explained his Looney Toons-style method of throwing a “line” out of a jail window for his co-conspirators to attach an array of drugs and weapons.
On June 30, 2024, the others charged in the case attempted to execute Campbell’s scheme by pulling a rope through the window in their housing area. At the other end of that rope, correctional officers found what appeared to be suboxone, marijuana, a scalpel, a phone charger, lighters, and cigarettes, according to court documents.
• Najee Jackson, a former correctional officer at the jail, allegedly attempted to smuggle contraband – vacuum-sealed bags of pot and cigarettes – into the facility on Jan. 21, 2025.
He was caught when he failed to clear the on-site metal detector in the staff screening area, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Jackson resigned two days later but still faces charges.
• Inmates Sean Smith, Rasheed Chapman and Antwan Mosley were indicted by a grand jury for the June 2, 2024, assault of another inmate. The defendants violently assaulted the victim, slashing him across the face and neck and causing serious lacerations. The victim was then chased through the housing unit and struck repeatedly by his assailants.
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