Feds charge Rikers Island guard with smuggling drugs to jail

NEW YORK – Federal authorities have charged a Rikers Island correctional officer with smuggling drugs into the New York City jail.

Court records unsealed this week show 23-year-old Simon Gordon faces bribery and drug charges following an investigation by the city’s Department of Investigation.

Gordon was released Monday on $25,000 bail. His defence attorney declined to comment Wednesday.

Court records show authorities reviewed jailhouse phone calls in which an unnamed inmate discussed bribing a guard.

Authorities confronted Gordon one day last summer as he was reporting for work.

Prosecutors say he handed over a package of marijuana he had concealed in his crotch.

They said the narcotics had been coated with nail polish in an effort to mask the odour.