Tuesday, March 13, 2018

DOI INVESTIGATION LEADS TO ARREST OF CITY CORRECTION DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEE FOR PROVIDING FALSE INFORMATION ABOUT GANG AFFILIATIONS ON EMPLOYMENT APPLICATION


  Mark G. Peters, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), announced today the arrest of a New York City Department of Correction (“DOC”) Legal Coordinator assigned to Trials and Litigations on charges of providing false and misleading information on her pre-employment application to become a Correction Officer (“CO”). DOI’s investigation revealed that BREANNE RILEY allegedly submitted several notarized statements pursuant to her application in which she denied any gang affiliations or police contact, although the investigation showed she has relationships with multiple gang members and has identified herself previously as a member of a gang. The case is being prosecuted by the Office of Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.

  DOI Commissioner Mark G. Peters said, “As alleged, this defendant concealed her history of gang affiliations and police contact in order to get a job at the very jails where many of these gang members were incarcerated. This arrest highlights, once again, the importance of a robust screening process for DOC employees, an issue we have issued Reports on in the past and continue to review.” 

  Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said, "The defendant in this case is accused of lying about her affiliation with gang members - and in fact is alleged to have stated she was a member of a street gang in the past. It is vitally important that the people working for the New York City Department of Correction are law abiding citizens and trust-worthy."

  DOI looked at the issue of DOC’s screening of new hires in 2015 and found serious discrepancies and issued a series of recommendations for improvements. Most of those recommendations were never implemented. Read the Report at the following link: https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doi/reports/pdf/2015/2015-01-25-Pr01rikers_aiu.pdf 

  RILEY, 24, of Brooklyn, N.Y., is charged with two counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class E felony. Upon conviction, a class E felony is punishable by up to 4 years in prison.

  RILEY has been employed by DOC as a Legal Coordinator since August 2015 and receives an annual base salary of approximately $46,804. DOC suspended RILEY upon arrest. 

  According to the criminal complaint and DOI’s investigation, RILEY submitted two applicant investigation forms in which she stated that she did not have any gang affiliations and listed ten inmates with whom she had prior contact. RILEY also stated on documents that she had no prior police contact. DOI determined through its investigation, background checks, and recorded inmate phone calls, that RILEY maintained close contact with at least seven additional inmates incarcerated on Rikers Island through multiple phone conversations that she did not disclose in her application forms. Furthermore, in several recorded calls with an inmate, RILEY admitted to being a member of the Folk Nation gang, saying in one conversation, “Why you calling me crip? I’m Folk as of yesterday.”

  Additionally, DOI’s investigation found that RILEY had police contact in August 2017, when she was stopped and interviewed by the NY/NJ U.S. Marshal Task Force for driving a person known by the NYPD to be a member of the Folk Nation, and who was wanted for questioning in regards to a homicide. RILEY was questioned for two hours and released. RILEY signed, had notarized, and submitted several DOC Pre-Employment Forms declaring that the information she disclosed on forms and questionnaires was true and correct to the best of her knowledge.

  A criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

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