The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that Anthony Ellison, a former inmate at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC), was sentenced to 29 months in prison on each of two counts by U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter. These sentences will run concurrently and consecutively to a federal sentence Ellison is already serving for another case. The charges stem from Ellison's involvement in bribery and contraband conspiracies with MCC employees and inmates.
"Many good New Yorkers believe our prisons are places for incarceration and, at least for some, rehabilitation," said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. "The hope for rehabilitation is illusory in an environment where inmates and staff are trafficking in drugs and other contraband. Today’s sentence demonstrates that this Office and our law enforcement partners are committed to rooting out corruption in our prisons."
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Ellison participated with other inmates and MCC guards in a bribery scheme between 2018 and 2021. Between 2019 and 2020, at least ten inmates paid nearly $80,000 in bribes to Perry Joyner, an MCC correctional officer. The bribes were facilitated through money transfer applications like CashApp by friends or relatives outside the jail.
In return for these bribes, Joyner smuggled drugs such as oxycodone, alprazolam, Suboxone, marijuana, synthetic cannabinoids (known as "K2"), cellphones, and cigarettes into the facility. Ellison sold much of this contraband within the jail at inflated prices.
In early 2020, after Joyner left the MCC amid lockdowns due to searches for contraband and COVID-19 measures, the contraband market diminished until Ellison found another source through Sharon Griffith-McKnight, another corrupt employee with whom he had a relationship.
Ellison has also been sentenced to three years of supervised release following his prison term along with $200 in special assessments.
Jay Clayton praised the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General; Special Agents from his office; and U.S. Customs & Border Protection for their investigative efforts.
This case is managed by the Public Corruption Unit under Assistant U.S Attorneys Jessica Greenwood; Jonathan E Rebold; Daniel H Wolf who are leading prosecution efforts.
