By Forum Staff
On Tuesday, in federal court in Brooklyn, Da’Vante Bolton, a Queens resident and employee of the City Administration for Children’s Services, pleaded guilty to accepting bribes, admitting that he smuggled contraband into a juvenile detention facility in exchange for illegal payments.
Bolton’s Tuesday plea arrived on the heels of three similar pleas last month by fellow ACS employees. On Sept. 3, Sept. 10, and Sept. 26, Octavia Napier, Christopher Craig and Queens resident Nigel King pleaded guilty, respectively, to Travel Act bribery charges in connection with the same conduct.
All four defendants were Youth Development Specialists at the Crossroads Juvenile Center in Brownsville.
Approximately 120 residents, ranging in age from 14 to 20, are detained at Crossroads. Residents at Crossroads are prohibited from possessing any contraband, including narcotics, cellular telephones, cigarettes, weapons and alcohol, among other prohibited items. ACS employees at Crossroads are trained to confiscate any contraband they find and must notify a supervisor if any contraband is discovered. Although staff members are supposed to undergo a security screening whenever they enter the facility, a significant amount of contraband has recently been recovered from Crossroads residents. Between approximately March 2022 and May 2024, at least 75 cell phones and more than 340 scalpels or blades were recovered from the facility, as well as narcotics and tobacco.
The defendants are or were Youth Development Specialists at Crossroads, who were responsible for supervising residents. Their responsibilities are similar to those of a correction officer at a jail facility, except, among other differences, Youth Development Specialists are restricted in the type of force they may use and are not permitted to carry pepper spray or restraints.
Bolton, 31, has been employed by ACS since March 2020. He accepted more than $20,000 in bribes from Crossroads residents or their associates and, in exchange, smuggled in razor blades and marijuana.
Craig, 37, has been employed by ACS since August 2018. He received more than $5,000 in bribes to smuggle in contraband, including marijuana and tobacco.
King, 45, was employed by ACS from October 2021 to August 2024. He accepted more than $6,000 in bribes for smuggling in marijuana, prescription pills and alcohol.
Napier, 26, was employed by ACS from June 2022 to May 2023. She received more than $2,000 in bribes to both smuggle in contraband and allow a Crossroads resident to use Napier’s Cash App account to run the resident’s contraband distribution business from within Crossroads.
A fifth defendant, Roger Francis, is currently awaiting trial on the same charges.
When sentenced, Bolton faces a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, and Napier, Craig and King each face a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment.
“These four City Youth Development Specialists were responsible for the safety and well-being of juveniles at the Crossroads Center in Brooklyn. They failed the juveniles in their care, and the City, when they took bribes to smuggle dangerous items into Crossroads, including razor blades, prescription pills, and alcohol,” City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber said.
