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Ghislaine Barrientos, age 37, of Mount Vernon, was sentenced on Wednesday, April 16, to six months in prison followed by six months of home detention for her role in a bribery and contraband smuggling scheme, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced.
Barrientos, formerly employed by the New York City Department of Correction, pleaded guilty in January to conspiring to accept over $10,000 in bribes to sneak narcotics, including cocaine and synthetic cannabinoids known as K2, as well as food into the Robert N. Davoren Complex at Rikers Island, as Daily Voice reported at the time.
In one instance in April 2024, prosecutors said Barrientos entered an inmate's cell shortly after arranging a delivery with one of the inmate’s associates. Days later, sheets of paper inside the cell tested positive for cocaine.
Later that month, a drug-sniffing canine detected narcotics in her belongings before she could smuggle additional drug-laced papers into the facility. A search of her vehicle turned up more of the same contraband, along with more than $2,400 in cash.
Barrientos was also ordered to forfeit $11,866.
"Barrientos not only abused her position of public trust as a corrections officer, she made Rikers Island less safe for inmates and officers alike," said Acting US Attorney Matthew Podolsky.
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