Former Inmate Charged With Sneaking Into Jails

You would expect someone who has done time in prison to want to stay away once they’re released. But New York City authorities say one ex-con has been making a habit of sneaking back in.

36 year old Matthew Matagrano was arraigned in a Manhattan courtroom Saturday on charges that he impersonated a New York City Department of Corrections officer.

Officials say that Matagrano used a fake ID to enter several city lockups, including the notorious Rikers Island jail complex and the Manhattan Detention Center.

The New York Post reports that Matagrano raised suspicions at Rikers when he began moving inmates from one cell to another.

NBC New York says that the man bypassed several security checks at the Manhattan Detention Center, where he "allegedly stole a walkie-talkie and smoked cigarettes with inmates.”

Matagrano's reasons for sneaking into the jails aren't yet clear.

Investigators were able to identify him through surveillance cameras.

Matagrano has a list of convictions including sexual assault of a teenage boy back in 1997. Surprisingly, he has worked for years for a charity known as Civil Advocates of New York where he has counseled troubled teens.He had previously been caught posing as a Board of Education worker to enter schools in Queens.