A correctional officer at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn has been indicted on federal bribery charges, with prosecutors saying she betrayed her duty and put staff and inmates at risk. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced the case alongside the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General and the FBI's New York field office.
“As alleged, the defendant betrayed her duty as a correctional officer, endangering the safety of MDC staff and inmates, all to satisfy her own greed,” United States Attorney Nocella said, according to a statement posted by the US Attorney EDNY
on X. The office added that it “is committed to rooting out corruption at all levels of government and will hold the defendant accountable for her actions.”
Details about the defendant's identity, the specific charges she faces, and the underlying allegations have not been made public in the material released so far. It also remains unclear whether she has entered a plea or made a court appearance in connection with the case.
The indictment identifies the officer as Melissa Brooks, 37, and alleges she accepted payments from inmates’ associates between July 2024 and December 2025 in exchange for bringing contraband into the jail. One alleged payment was $5,000 sent through a peer-to-peer service after the money had been transferred from an inmate’s sister. Prosecutors also cite messages in which Brooks allegedly discussed bringing contraband to an inmate using a contraband phone. The charges remain allegations; the indictment carries a maximum 15-year prison term for bribery if she is convicted.
A Pattern of Bribery Cases at the Brooklyn Jail
This is not the first time a correctional officer at MDC Brooklyn has faced federal charges.
A separate case saw a former federal correctional officer sentenced to prison in July 2024 for accepting bribes in exchange for smuggling contraband to people detained at the facility, per a justice.gov release. And in January 2025, another former officer was charged with attempting to smuggle contraband into MDC Brooklyn; that officer reportedly began working there in November 2023, according to the same office's reporting.
The cases also show how officer misconduct can help contraband circulate inside the jail: in the earlier case, Quandelle Joseph accepted tens of thousands of dollars for smuggling narcotics, cigarettes and phones, and warned an inmate about searches. A separate case involving Najee Jackson moved beyond the initial January 2025 charge: Jackson pleaded guilty in July 2025 after attempting to bring marijuana and cigarettes inside his protective vest. The allegations against Brooks are separate, and prosecutors have not publicly tied her case to either earlier prosecution.
Dozens Charged in Broader Contraband Crackdown
The new indictment follows a wider federal push to crack down on corruption and smuggling tied to the jail. In March 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that 25 Metropolitan Detention Center inmates, their associates, and a former correctional officer had been charged in a dozen separate criminal cases at the facility.
Bribery-for-smuggling prosecutions have also reached New York City’s jail system, though Rikers Island is run by the city, not the federal Bureau of Prisons. In 2020, federal prosecutors charged six city correction officers and 15 others in alleged schemes to bribe officers to smuggle contraband into Rikers facilities. In a separate Rikers case, officer Jason Skeet was sentenced in 2024 to 37 months in prison for conspiring to smuggle contraband in exchange for bribes. That case provides a local comparison, but is not linked to the allegations against Brooks.
The federal response has included coordinated searches as well as prosecutions. In October 2024, law enforcement agencies carried out a weeklong operation at MDC Brooklyn aimed at finding and seizing contraband; the following March, prosecutors announced charges against 25 defendants in 12 cases involving violence and smuggling. That sweep included a former officer accused of trying to bring contraband into the facility. The March 2025 announcement described the cases as part of continuing efforts to combat crime inside the jail.
Months later, in December 2025, a former Bureau of Prisons correctional officer previously assigned to MDC Brooklyn was sentenced in a related contraband case, receiving six months of home incarceration, 24 months of probation, and a community-service requirement, according to an oig.justice.gov press release. Full details of that sentencing and the case's identity were not fully available in the published account.
The latest indictment adds to that running list of cases tied to the Brooklyn jail, though the specific allegations against this defendant have not yet been laid out publicly. The U.S. Attorney's Office said it is committed to rooting out corruption at all levels of government.
