A former federal corrections officer faces up to one year in prison for smuggling cell phone chargers into the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park for an inmate, according to a criminal complaint unsealed by the U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of New York.
Fabienne Osias, 40, pleaded guilty to federal charges Tuesday before Judge Marcia M. Henry after resigning from her role at the United States Bureau of Prisons on Aug. 23.
An investigation found that the Brooklyn woman attempted to provide to an inmate of the MDC with several cell phone chargers on Feb. 28, 2023, which is illegal under The Cell Phone Contraband Act of 2010.
Among the prohibited devices were five Universal Serial Bus (USB) charging cubes and nine USB charging cables.
Announcing the arrest and guilty plea on Tuesday, Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said Osias had “abused her position of trust.”
“Contraband cell phones enable federal inmates to continue committing crimes even while they are in custody at the MDC, which endangers both the jail population and the community at large,” said Peace. “This Office will vigorously investigate and prosecute acts of public corruption at the MDC at every level.”
Osias is the third former corrections officer at the Metropolitan Detention Center to be arrested in the last year for smuggling illegal contraband into the Sunset Park federal prison.
On Aug. 7, Quandelle Joseph was charged for sneaking narcotics, cigarettes, and cell phones into the facility in December 2020 and was sentenced to 2.5 years behind bars for the offense.
Separately in 2023, Jeremy Monk, pleaded guilty to taking bribes in exchange for providing illegal contraband.
“Contraband, including cell phones, in prisons can be dangerous weapons,” Ryan T. Geach, special agent in charge at the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General said in a statement following Osias’s guilty plea. “The Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General is committed to bringing to justice any Correctional Officer that violates their oath and smuggles contraband into federal prison facilities.”
