Officer found with weed in vest during prison metal detector test in NY, feds say
As a corrections officer tried to enter a New York prison for his night shift, he set off a metal detector six times, leading officials to find contraband hidden in his vest, federal prosecutors said.
Now, Najee Jackson, a 32-year-old ex-corrections officer at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, has pleaded guilty to attempted provision of contraband in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said in a July 15 news release.
McClatchy News reached out to Jackson’s attorney July 17 but did not receive an immediate response.
“(Jackson’s) actions undermined the safety and security of his fellow correctional officers and the inmates at MDC-Brooklyn,” Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in the release.
Jackson began working as a correctional officer at the prison in November 2023, according to a complaint filed in January.
As he walked in for his night shift at about midnight Jan. 21, he failed a metal detector test, prosecutors said. Then, he proceeded to set off the alarm five more times before taking off a vest and clearing the metal detector, according to prosecutors.
When officials looked through Jackson’s vest, they found “four packages wrapped in blue paper and plastic wrap” that had bags of cigarettes and one bag of marijuana, prosecutors said.
Two lighters and a box of rolling papers were also found on Jackson that day, according to the complaint
Officials said he brought in the contraband to try to pass it on to an inmate, according to a prosecutors.
Two days later, Jackson resigned from his position, prosecutors said.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 17 and faces up to five years in prison, prosecutors said.
This story was originally published July 17, 2025 at 12:37 PM with the headline "Officer found with weed in vest during prison metal detector test in NY, feds say."
