Of all the crazy stories we’ve heard about Rikers, this is quite a memorable one. A former city Corrections officer made her job sound like a party after she admitted Thursday to having sex with an inmate and selling Ecstasy, cigarettes and booze while she worked on the Island. More details below…
Clara Espada, 41, pleaded guilty to third-degree bribe receiving — a D-class felony — and misdemeanor forcible touching.
A criminal complaint says Espada had sex three times with a male inmate, who has not been named.
He told investigators he slept with the officer and helped broker deals that netted the woman nearly $300 a week over four months, court documents show.
Espada was arrested Wednesday after an eight-month investigation , the Department of Investigation said.
The crimes were committed in the George Motchan Detention Center between July 2009 and January 2010, while Espada — who has worked for the Corrections Department since December 2004 — was earning a $76,488 salary.
She was restricted from inmate contact and placed on modified duty in June 2011 when the investigation first began, according to the DOI.
“Arrest, prosecution, jail time, and the loss of a valuable city job is the likely end for any correction officer who receives bribes to transport contraband into the city jails,” DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said.
Under the plea deal, Espada — who resigned from her Corrections post earlier this month — is expected to be sentenced to six months behind bars followed by three years probation, the DOI said.
