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New York State Criminal Justice Services / AP
Matthew Matagrano
A New York-area man who snuck into jail for visits may soon get the chance to become a permanent resident.
Yonkers, New York, resident Matthew Matagrano was arraigned Saturday on charges that he impersonated a Department of Correction investigator so that he could gain access to prisons, including Rikers Island and the Manhattan Detention Center.
Once inside, the 36-year-old gave cigarettes to inmates and smoked them in the common areas. Matagrano himself had been locked up for a rap sheet that includes sodomy and sexual abuse, and he is a registered sex offender.
New York City officials says that for at least a week Matagrano had been using fake credentials and a uniform to gain access to prisons where he would hang out with inmates. A surveillance camera caught Matagrano during one of his visits, according to a criminal complaint. Upon entry, he said he was an investigator from the department’s intelligence unit.
It’s unclear why he wanted to break into jail, but this is not the first time Matagrano pretended to be something he’s not to gain access. He had previously been caught posing as a Board of Education worker so that he could get into two schools and look through student records. He pleaded guilty in 2004 to attempted burglary.
It’s also unclear why someone with a criminal past could so easily gain access to prisons. A spokesperson for the Department of Corrections told NBCNewYork.com only that “The apprehension this afternoon of Mr. Matagrano occurred within 24 hours of the department learning of the matter.”
The investigation is ongoing and there may be uncovered that Matagrano snuck into even more New York-area prisons.
He is charged with burglary, possession of forged instruments, larceny and promoting prison contraband. A judge set bail at $50,000.
The Associated Press and NBCNewYork contributed to this report.
Leave a Comment:
Maybe he's got some old debts to pay.....taking care of certain people on the inside.
what a moron, well he got his wish and now he can hang out all day and night with his friends !
Now he'll find out it's harder to sneak OUT.
This guy is creepy dangerous also getting into schools as a sex offender?? How did you let this guy out? He needs a long time 10-15 at least to get the hang of prison life......
I don't know whether to laugh, chuckle, frown or cry over this! It is so sad that a man needed to break into a prison to find people to talk to. I have heard some people feign illnesses just to get some attention and tender touch in a hospital ER. I have heard nurses tell me this. So sad!
This man, treated like a pariah, probably found comfort among the inmates who accepted him for what he was...without his old stigma and social ostracism. So sad..!
There are four classes in the US: the deviant class, the dysfunctionalized class, the struggling class (that includes most of us normal people) and the elite class (that can cover up anything). That is one against three. And we wonder why so many Americans are fearful, depressed, anxious, stressed, feeling hopeless, feeling angry, withdrawn...or have just given up and taken to religion?
What human beings will do for a little company? So sad...! At least he did not get on "Dating Sites".
He's a sex offender and you think that the prison inmates would "accept him for what he was"??
maybe he missed the sodomy
Yeah he missed his boy friends. Probably couldn't score on the outside so what better place?
NYC must have some really nice jails.
I can only imagine what the comments would be had he been black.
I can't think of one, please enlighten us. Dumb ass comment of the day, congrats.
Well Stone it would be something along the lines of his irrational acts having something to do with being black. Every time a black person commits a crime there are several people who blame his criminality on the fact that he is black, never noticed?
Unfortunate I have, leroy. I take a man for what he is not the color of his skin. From what I can tell crazy has no prejudice.
Cappy, although there is much truth to your comment I too am glad that he wasn't Black and for the record people usually try to get out of Prison, it's really easy to get in.
With all of Bloomberg's restrictions in NYC, maybe he felt less restricted in jail these days.
NYC = Now You Can't-
-have a soft drink bigger than 16 oz
-smoke anywhere
-protect yourself
-get your take-out home still hot
-- you name it, Now You Can't.
What an idiot, he snuck into Jail to hang out with inmates? It's more to it than that trust me, he was either delivering information, drugs, cigarettes, cell phones or something to these guys. For him to take that chance he must have gotten a bundle from someone. Or be in deep debt to someone on the outside, the full story will come out soon.
He's lonely. He was posing as a government intelligence agent to look cool, that's it, no grand conspiracy.
Its a shame he got caught.
Ahhh, He missed his friends.
lol he was slick for awhile . lol what kinda prison or jail is that lol jackass officers see this is just telling you they are not doing @!$%# but sitting on there ass's lol and we citizens pay the tax dollar for these pukes makes me sick
I have to wonder if there isn't more to this story as well - like there was a reason he was taking cigarettes to inmates...and what else might have been in those cigarettes? This story will fade away quietly and we'll likely never hear that:
1) he becomes an innformant,
2) he goes into protective custody within whatever prison he's assigned to, or
3) he gets off easy on the charges because he has some disease/disorder/history that coerced him into this.