NEW YORK – Most people who have done time in jail can’t wait to get out. But New York City authorities have accused one former inmate of sneaking back in.
Yonkers resident Matthew Matagrano, 36, was arraigned in Manhattan on Saturday on charges that he impersonated a Department of Corrections investigator.
Officials say that for at least a week, Matagrano used phony credentials to get into multiple city lockups, including Rikers Island and the Manhattan Detention Center, where he mingled with inmates for hours.
Investigators said the case is still unfolding, but some of the allegations were detailed in a criminal complaint describing Matagrano’s entry into the Manhattan jail on Thursday. Matagrano admitted to arriving at the jail during the afternoon and gaining entry by showing a gold shield and saying he was an investigator from the department’s intelligence unit. He stayed until 11 p.m., giving cigarettes to inmates and smoking with them in a common area. He is also charged with stealing a radio from an office while inside.
Matagrano has a rap sheet that includes a conviction for sodomy and sexual abuse. He is on the state’s sex offender registry.
It is not clear why he wanted to get into jails, but he had previously been caught posing as a Board of Education worker to enter two schools and rifle through student files. In 2004, he pleaded guilty to attempted burglary in connection with that case.
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