DA VANCE: MATTHEW MATAGRANO SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN STATE PRISON FOR ILLEGAL ENTRY AND OTHER CRIMES AT MANHATTAN DETENTION COMPLEX
“Using a fake badge to enter a city jail has landed a real criminal in state prison,” said District Attorney Vance. “Impersonating a law enforcement official is not only unlawful, it poses unacceptable dangers in today’s world.” As admitted in his guilty plea and according to documents filed in court, at approximately 9:30 p.m. on February 27, 2013, MATAGRANO entered the MDC, a jail in lower Manhattan, by displaying a gold shield and falsely claiming to be an investigator. The defendant was not employed by the Department of Corrections and did not have the authority to be inside the restricted facility. MATAGRANO stole a portable radio from an MDC office and then gained unauthorized access to a housing section of the complex. There, he groped an inmate while threatening him with physical harm, ordered him into a cell, and subjected him to a strip search. Assistant District Attorney Virginia Nguyen handled the prosecution of the case with assistance from Assistant District Attorney Siobhan Carty, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Martha Bashford, Chief of the Sex Crimes Unit, Assistant District Attorney Armand Durastanti, Chief of Trial Bureau 40, and Executive Assistant District Attorney Karen Friedman-Agnifilo, Chief of the Trial Division. Defendant Information: MATTHEW MATAGRANO, D.O.B. 4/25/1976 Yonkers, NY Convicted: Sentenced: