Former Brooklyn corrections officer pleads guilty to smuggling cell phone chargers into federal prison • Brooklyn Paper

A former federal prison officer faces up to a 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 for the Eastern District of New York.

Fabienne Osias, 40, pleaded guilty to federal charges before Judge Marcia M. Henry on Tuesday after resigning from her position with the United States Bureau of Prisons on Aug. 23.

An investigation revealed that on February 28, 2023, the Brooklyn woman attempted to give several cell phone chargers to an inmate at MDC, which is illegal under the Cell Phone Contraband Act of 2010.

The banned devices included five Universal Serial Bus (USB) charging cubes and nine USB charging cables.

When Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced the arrest and guilty plea on Tuesday, he said Osias had “abused her position of trust.”

“Smuggled cell phones enable federal prisoners to continue committing crimes while incarcerated at the MDC, endangering both the prison population and society as a whole,” Peace said. “This office will vigorously investigate and prosecute cases of public corruption at all levels in the MDC.”

Osias is the third former Metropolitan Detention Center correctional officer arrested in the last year for smuggling illegal contraband into the Sunset Park federal prison.

On August 7, Quandelle Joseph was charged with smuggling narcotics, cigarettes and cell phones into the facility in December 2020 and sentenced to two and a half years in prison for that offense.

In 2023, Jeremy Monk also pleaded guilty to accepting bribes for the sale of illegal contraband.

“Contraband, including cell phones, can be a dangerous weapon in prisons,” said Ryan T. Geach, special agent in charge of the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General, in a statement after Osias' guilty plea. “The Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General is committed to bringing to justice any correctional officer who violates his oath and smuggles contraband into federal prisons.”