Federal prison officials say ‘no evidence' of maggots in MDC Brooklyn food despite photo shared with News
The federal Bureau of Prisons on Monday denied that the MDC Brooklyn jail served infested food over President's Day weekend, after the Federal Defenders released a photo showing what appeared to be maggots on a tray of black beans and baked potatoes.
The Daily News first reported on the photo last week, which the Federal Defenders of New York said was taken by an inmate inside the troubled Sunset Park jail on Feb. 16.
On Monday, a Bureau of Prisons spokesman said inmates weren't served black beans or baked potatoes on Feb. 16, and called claims of maggot-infested food 'inaccurate.'
'While we cannot attest to the authenticity of the image you reference, I can say there is no evidence of the presence of 'maggots' in any of the food at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) Brooklyn as claimed,' BOP spokesman Emery Nelson said Monday.
Nelson said that based on his conversations with MDC staff, the day's menu included oven brown potatoes, which 'are sliced potatoes and are not whole/baked potatoes' and items like shredded chicken. Inmates were not served beans.
'It is important to note that while black beans were served to the inmate population on Friday, February 14, 2025, and baked potatoes were served on Saturday, February 15, 2025, these items were not served on the same day or in the same meal,' he said.
Deirdre von Dornum of the Federal Defenders said Monday she doesn't buy the BOP's response.
'I would ask, on behalf of all the people detained at MDC, that MDC staff do a thorough check of all beans and grains stored at the facility and ensure that any infested items are thrown away,' she said. 'My clients regularly report receiving food — including dairy products — long past the stamped 'use by' date, so my faith in the accuracy of BOP's representations is low.'
Defense attorneys and federal judges have for years decried the conditions at MDC Brooklyn, which houses alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione, fallen hip hop mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs, and crypto scammer Samuel Bankman-Fried.
In March and April of last year, several inmates brought complaints about maggots infesting their meals, after one inmate, Joseph Elias, complained in court filings that he was served maggot-infested beans while in the special housing unit, or SHU.
The Bureau of Prisons told federal prosecutors handling his case that jail staff found 'one bag from a particular manufacturer that showed the presence of weevils,' and that the staff had gotten rid of all the beans from that manufacturer.
Elias' lawyer, Michael Robotti, countered that his clients found maggots in his meals four times, including after they supposedly got rid of the tainted food. On April 4, the Federal Defenders listed similar complaints from eight other SHU inmates, as well as two inmates in another unit, of finding maggots in their sloppy joes, shredded chicken, black beans and chickpeas.
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