RIKERS ISLAND PRISONER IS CONVICTED OF PROMOTING PRISON CONTRABAND

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a 38 year-old Brooklyn man has been convicted of bringing dangerous contraband into the detention facility.

A jury found Dimitrius Senior of 3003 Avenue X, Brooklyn, guilty of 1 count of Promoting Prison Contraband in the 1st degree. Senior faces a maximum sentence of up to 7 years imprisonment when he appears before Acting State Supreme Court Justice Patricia Anne Williams on Tuesday, November 12, 2002 in Part T23.

The incident occurred on March 2, 2002 as the defendant entered the Rikers Island Correctional Facility on an unrelated charge. As the defendant’s clothing was X-rayed, a single edge razor blade was detected in his down filled coat. A Correction Officer searched and located the razor.

During the trial the defendant claimed someone else gave the coat to him, however, a surveillance tape confirmed Senior was wearing the coat at the time of his arrest.

Assistant District Attorney’s Asit Panwala and Ben Rivera of the Trial Bureau are prosecuting this case.