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Manhattan, New York - Anthony Ellison, aka “Chino,” 36, of Brooklyn, and Starlin Nunez, aka “Harv,” 47, originally from the Dominican Republic, two former inmates of the Metropolitan Correctional Center (“MCC”), a federal jail, have been found guilty of running a wide-ranging bribery and prison contraband scheme that involved other inmates and MCC employees.

Key Points

• Ellison and Nunez, along with six other former MCC inmates and three former MCC employees, engaged in this conspiracy between approximately 2018 and 2021.
• The scheme included paying nearly $80,000 in bribes to Perry Joyner, 30, of Orange, New Jersey, a corrupt MCC correctional officer, using money transfer applications like CashApp.
• In return for the bribes, Joyner smuggled a variety of contraband into the MCC, including drugs like oxycodone, alprazolam, Suboxone, marijuana, synthetic cannabinoids (K2), cellphones, and cigarettes.
• The contraband was then sold to other inmates at a profit, with Ellison charging up to $100 for a single cigarette and $5,000 for a used iPhone.
• Following Joyner's departure from MCC in early 2020 and subsequent lockdowns due to contraband searches and the COVID-19 pandemic, the contraband market collapsed.
• Ellison later established a relationship with another corrupt MCC employee, Sharon Griffith-McKnight, to obtain and redistribute contraband.
• Ellison was convicted of one count of conspiring to commit honest services wire fraud, carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years, and one count of conspiring to possess and provide prison contraband, with a maximum sentence of five years. His sentencing is scheduled for June 6, 2024.
• Nunez was convicted of one count of conspiring to commit honest services wire fraud, with a maximum sentence of 20 years, and one count of conspiring to possess and provide prison contraband (cellphones), carrying a maximum sentence of one year. His sentencing is scheduled for July 9, 2024.