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Manhattan Prison Guard Charged With Phoning Inmate

By DNAinfo Staff on January 31, 2011 4:43pm  | Updated on February 1, 2011 6:22am

Rosalyn Wilkes, 43, pleaded not guilty to contraband promotion charges.
Rosalyn Wilkes, 43, pleaded not guilty to contraband promotion charges.
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DNAinfo/John Marshall Mantel

By Shayna Jacobs

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A Manhattan corrections officer was charged with using her cell phone to contact her gang-member boyfriend at Rikers Island while on the job, in violation of numerous Department of Correction rules. 

Prosecutors said Manhattan Detention Center guard Rosalyn Wilkes, 43, was arrested Monday morning and charged with five counts of promoting prison contraband.

Her illicit contact with the male inmate was dangerous conduct that "created a security threat and potentially put the lives of her colleagues and charges at risk," Assistant District Attorney Charles Linehan said.

Wilkes was released without bail after pleading not guilty to the charges at her arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday. She was arrested in the morning.

She "repeatedly received calls from and engaged in extensive conversation with the Rikers Island inmate while the defendant was supposed to be working at her assigned post," Linehan said.

She also gave her phone to other inmates so they could call her boyfriend, who was transferred to Rikers after MDC authorities learned of their romantic relationship. She told reporters they were together prior to his incarceration there, but prosecutors said she "struck up a relationship with an inmate incarcerated and awaiting trial on multiple indictments."

Wilkes made a total of eight calls that were "expressly prohibited" by the Department of Corrections, prosecutors said. 

The calls were apparently recorded, in accordance with DOC protocol.

Speaking to reporters after the arraignment, Wilkes claimed she had permission to call the inmate, who was charged with robbery and gun possession.

She said a Manhattan Detention Center official gave her written permission to communicate with the inmate.

"They looked up his records and made up all these phony charges," Wilkes said to reporters after the arraignment.

Wilkes, a Brooklyn resident, faces up to seven years in prison if convicted. She had previously been suspended for 15 days by the DOC and was transferred to a Queens facility where she has no contact with inmates after that particular suspension, authorities said.