A former NYC Department of Correction (DOC) officer, an inmate in a Rikers Island Jail and a Bronx resident have been indicted on a total of nine charges for their involvement in smuggling a cellphone to the inmate in August 2021.
According to an announcement from the Bronx District Attorney’s office, Bennie Green, 36, allegedly took a $2,500 bribe in exchange for smuggling the iPhone. The inmate, Barry Wells, 35, also had help from Williamsbridge resident Starquiasha Singletary, 32, who purchased the phone. Green faces up to 16 years of jail time, Wells faces up to 15 years and Singletary faces up to eight.
Green and Singletary were arraigned Thursday before Bronx Supreme Court Justice George Villegas and are due back in court on Sept. 14.
Wells will be arraigned at a later date.
Through a series of calls between July 30, 2021, and Aug. 5 2021, Wells instructed Singletary to buy him an iPhone, according to the DAs office. Singletary picked up the phone on Aug. 4, 2021, and Green called the phone multiple times on that day.
The following day, surveillance videos show Green entering Wells’ cell in the Anna M. Kross Center. A few hours later, an associate of Wells sent three separate Zelle payments to Green totaling $2,500.
Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said that “contraband can lead to violence, and this officer tarnished his badge and put his fellow officers and inmates in danger.”
“My Office will not tolerate criminal activity by anyone who threatens safety in the jail,” Clark said.
Green began working as a correction officer for the DOC in June 2017 and ultimately resigned from his position in July 2022, 11 months after the incident took place.
The Bronx District Attorney’s office would not provide information regarding Wells’ connection to Singletary, where Singletary purchased the iPhone and whether or not any incidents occurred in Rikers as a result of the contraband.
Wells has been in jail for five years for the alleged murder of his wife in Brooklyn on Dec. 27, 2017. His next court appearance for the murder is scheduled for September.
According to the New York Times, New York City jails have seen an uptick in items smuggled by guards between 2019 and 2021. One of the many defendants implicated in the smuggling schemes took more than $40,000 to bring contraband into the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island.
New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said that contraband cell phones pose a risk to both officers and inmates in city jails, and, as such, Green violated his duty for a cash payout.
“I thank the Department of Correction and the Bronx District Attorney for their commitment to pursue officer misconduct that jeopardizes the safety of the jails to the full extent of the law,” Strauber said.
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