Three more staffers at a juvenile detention center in Brooklyn are accused of taking bribes to sneak in contraband to the teenage detainees they were supposed to be supervising.
Evan Hamllton, 34, Linard King, 41, and Dra-Quan Whitmore, 34 — all “youth development specialists” at the Crossroads Juvenile Center in Brooklyn — were charged Wednesday with federal bribery conspiracy charges, bringing the tally to nine staffers arrested on contraband-related charges since June 2024.
Whitmore, who has worked at Crossroads since October 2018 and whose yearly salary is about $68,500, is accused of taking 130 payments totaling more than $11,000 on his Cash App account between February 2023 and April 2025 to bring in items like pot, rolling papers and tobacco.
He doled out a few hundred dollars at the time, with records showing he made about 124 calls to at least four contraband phones inside the juvenile facility, the city Department of Investigation alleges. In one April transaction, he received $420; in a July transaction, he pocketed $260, authorities allege.
Whitmore would get and send messages in code — “za” for marijuana, “fronto” for tobacco leaves — often conveyed in the subject lines of $1 Cash App transactions, according to a criminal complaint.
He also took steps to avoid detection, it was alleged.
On Feb. 17, 2023, after Whitmore got contraband delivered to him by Uber, he asked the detainee, “It’s packed right? I won’t [have] to do too much?” according to the complaint. When the resident told him it was tucked into a ziplock bag, he allegedly said, “Copy, ima bag it again anyways for the smell.” Nine days later, the same resident warned, “[d]elete the number and call log,” the complaint stated.
King, who has worked at Crossroads since September 2015 and makes about $81,500 annually, supervises other youth development specialists, and made nearly $7,300 from his illegal side hustle between April and October 2022, taking 88 payments from either the teen detainees or their associates to smuggle in pot and tobacco, authorities allege.
Hamilton, a Crossroads employee since November 2019 making about $67,300 a year, took more than 100 bribes totaling just over $5,000 between February 2022 and April 2023, authorities allege. He also acted as a go-between for a detainee and another crooked Crossroads staffer, authorities allege.
Hamilton was so in cahoots with one of the juvenile detainees that the youngster knew about Hamilton’s July 17, 2022 arrest for firearm possession. The resident texted Hamilton, saying “I was botta send you a band [i.e., money] for ya bail but she text back and said you was free already,” according to the complaint.
Police said he was arrested after a metal detector outside a Williamsburg night club showed he was packing heat.
The disposition of Hamilton’s 2022 arrest was not immediately available Wednesday, and the city Administration for Children’s Services, which runs Crossroads, didn’t immediately respond to a question about whether he faced any job discipline as a result.
Hamilton has been on leave since June, Whitmore is suspended until Nov. 9, when he will return on modified duty, while King remains on active duty, according to the Department of Investigation. All three were arraigned in Brooklyn Federal Court and released on bond.
“Contraband smuggling in juvenile detention centers poses unacceptable risks to these residential facilities, endangering juveniles and staff alike,” DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said Wednesday. “These charges, and the arrest of a fourth youth development specialist last week for this conduct, sends a clear message – DOI and our federal partners are watching and we will hold accountable City employees who use their positions of trust to enrich themselves rather than to protect the residents in their care.”
The city Department of Investigation disclosed last week that over three years — from March 2022 through September 2025 — at least 112 contraband cell phones and close to 700 scalpels and blades were seized, in addition to banned drugs and tobacco.
Crossroads, on Bristol St. in Brownsville, houses roughly 176 youngsters from 14- to 20-years-old, with 280 staff members. The facility’s rules bar a range of items, including drugs, cell phones, tobacco and weapons.
Youth development specialists have similar responsibilities to correction officers in the city’s adult jails.
Last week, Lymek Frazier, 33, a youth development specialist until his firing in January, was charged after investigators found that he had been paid more than $72,000 to smuggle in razors, weed and oxycodone, authorities allege.
Five other former Crossroads youth development specialists faced similar federal charges in June 2024. Two got jail time, two were granted probation, and the fifth will be sentenced in December.
