Krystle Burrell of Lawrence sentenced for accepting bribes to smuggle drugs, cellphones into Rikers Island

A New York City correction officer from Lawrence was sentenced to 2 years and 5 months in prison for accepting nearly $10,000 in bribes to smuggle drugs and cellphones into Rikers Island for her inmate lover, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Krystle Burrell, 36, admitted accepting electronic payments in summer 2021 for supporting a contraband operation being run by Terrae Hinds, also known as "Tomato Sauce," with whom prosecutors said she had a sexual relationship.

After pleading guilty following her initial arrest, Burrell was charged again for conspiring with Hinds to smuggle marijuana and cigarettes into a federal detention center, court records show. Tuesday’s sentencing by United States District Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto covers both offenses, prosecutors said.

“Krystle Burrell put her own interests above the safety of incarcerated individuals and other correction officers at Rikers Island by accepting payments for drugs and smuggling cellphones into the jail she was supposed to protect,” United States Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement. “Public corruption is especially harmful when it affects the safety and security of our city’s jails and today’s sentence demonstrates that correction officers face serious consequences for smuggling contraband into Rikers Island.”

Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 3 years, 9 months for Burrell, saying she was a “crucial member of Hinds’ contraband ring,” court records show.

In a sentencing memorandum filed earlier this month, Assistant United States Attorney Philip Pilmar told Matsumoto that Burrell had direct communications with other inmates assisting Hinds, who had 10 prior convictions while incarcerated at Rikers Island, where Burrell worked.

When questioned by investigators, Burrell initially denied any involvement in the scheme but ultimately pleaded guilty in September 2022 to a bribery charge and in May 2023 to providing and possessing contraband in prison.

Hinds is an alleged Bloods gang member who was in custody awaiting trial in state court on a weapons charge related to a shooting incident when the smuggling scheme was uncovered, prosecutors said. He has since pleaded guilty in state court and is currently awaiting sentencing in the federal case, prosecutors said.

The contraband cellphones were smuggled into the Anna M. Kross Center, one of the jails on Rikers Island.

In a recorded call in jail, Burrell and Hinds said "'I love you' to each other and they mimicked a kiss over the phone," according to a charging document. Later in the year, the two discussed apparently having had a sexual relationship at Rikers, the document said.

In a Nov. 13 letter to the judge, Burrell’s defense attorney, Kelley Sharkey of Brooklyn, said her client is a single mom whose partner was murdered. She described Burrell, who she said was overworked at Rikers Island, as a childhood abuse victim who was manipulated and “violently accosted” by Hinds.

“She takes full responsibility and regrets her behavior,” Sharkey told the judge. “She recognizes her actions were irrational and were the product of an overwhelmed, lonely single parent.”

Sharkey had requested a prison sentence of between 3 and 6 months.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.