NYC jail guard arrested for allegedly lying in probe over loaded gun found in inmate’s cell

A Manhattan jail guard was arrested Friday for allegedly mendacity throughout a probe after a loaded gun was present in an inmate’s cell, prosecutors introduced.

Correction Officer Gregory McKenzie, 35, lied to 2 federal brokers on Nov. 4 when he was questioned about utilizing a burner cellphone to name and textual content with an inmate at a downtown lockup, a Manhattan federal indictment alleges.

An investigation was launched after a loaded .22-caliber gun was discovered on March 5, 2020, contained in the wall of that very same inmate’s cell on the Metropolitan Correctional Center, the infamous jail the place Jeffrey Epstein killed himself, the court docket papers allege.

The six-year veteran jail guard from Danbury, Connecticut, allegedly purchased the Samsung burner cellphone from a downtown store on Jan. 30, 2020, minutes after he withdrew $120 money from a close-by ATM, the indictment alleges.

McKenzie then used the cellphone to textual content and name the inmate — who had a contraband cellphone — and the inmate’s spouse over the following two days, the feds allege.

Cellphone information positioned McKenzie and the inmate’s spouse on the identical place within the Bronx on the identical time on Jan. 31, earlier than McKenzie reported for his shift on the jail at midnight on Feb. 1, the indictment alleges.

Then, throughout that shift, the inmate texted and referred to as McKenzie, and moments later, the guard was seen on surveillance video going to the inmate’s cell alone and carrying one thing below his arm, the court docket papers allege.

Months later, when McKenzie was questioned in the course of the investigation into the gun, he falsely denied shopping for and proudly owning the burner cellphone and in addition denied calling the inmate and his spouse, the indictment alleges.

He’s charged with one rely of constructing false statements and one rely of obstruction of justice and faces as much as 25 years behind bars if convicted on each counts.

He was set to look earlier than a choose later Friday.

McKenzie’s felony protection legal professional Aaron Wallenstein informed The Post his consumer denies any wrongdoing.

“He believes he answered whatever questions were asked of him honestly and to the best of his ability,” Wallenstein mentioned.