JAILBIRDS GONE TO CELL & BACK
9 rearrested after Hochul’s Rikers release
At least nine Rikers Island inmates who were recently given a Get Out of Jail Free card by Gov.
Hochul have been arrested again, The Post has learned.
Among those who fumbled the Sept. 17 free pass is a reputed Queens gangbanger who not only was charged with possessing a loaded gun but also accused of trying to bribe his way out of a return trip to the jail, NYPD and law-enforcement sources said.
Stepfane “Stephon” Gilliam, 26, is an alleged member of a Queensbridge Houses crew called Team No Lackin’ and has multiple aliases and 43 prior arrests, including 23 felonies, sources said.
After just two weeks of freedom, Gilliam was pulled over by cops on Sept. 29 at 9:45 p.m. at the corner of 31st Avenue and 21st Street in Queens for alleged speeding and excessive tint on his BMW’s windows, authorities said.
The cops found a warrant out for his arrest on a traffic violation, sources said. They then searched the 2004 BMW and allegedly discovered a .32 Colt revolver in the back seat.
Gilliam was charged with weapons possession, as was his passenger, Shawn Gilliam, 27, a relative.
Stepfane Gilliam then managed to get himself in more trouble.
While being quizzed by 114th Precinct detectives about the gun, Gilliam said, “How can we make this go away?” according to police.
The arresting officer then met with Gilliam in the holding cells,
where Gilliam allegedly offered cash “so you can drop the gun charge,” cops said.
“I can get $20,000. I only got $3,000 cash on me. You can drive me home, and I’ll go in and give it to you,” he said, according to police.
He then allegedly tried to sweeten the offer: “I can sell drugs and give you a cut,” he said, according to authorities said.
The officer contacted supervisors, and Gilliam was charged with bribery of a public servant.
Gilliam’s release from Rikers came after Hochul on Sept. 17 ordered the release of 191 inmates locked up at the jail complex for “technical” violations of their parole from state prison.
Hochul issued the order before signing into law the Less is More Act, which will stop the state from putting ex-cons back behind bars for missing appointments with parole officers, violating curfew or testing positive for drugs or alcohol. It is set to take effect March 1.
Hochul claimed urgency with the measure, citing “deeply disturbing” reports of out-of-control violence and chaos at the massive jail complex.
She also ordered the transfers of around 200 inmates from Rikers to state prisons following recent admissions by city Correction Commissioner Vincent Schiraldi that planned reform efforts can’t be achieved under the existing conditions.
Hochul said the inmates she was releasing “have served their sentences” for their crimes and “do not need to be incarcerated.”
But the NYPD said at least eight other Rikers cons released under Hochul’s edict were rearrested in the past three weeks.
Jerrell Edwards, 34, of Harlem, was collared on Sept. 18 for alleged petit larceny in a Gramercy Park thrift shop, while Jerome Farris, 41, of Manhattan, was arrested on Sept. 20 on the same charge at a Duane Reade in Penn Station, police said.
A day later, Babatunde Wiggins, 51, of Brooklyn, was arrested in Midtown on a drug-possession
charge, and Danny Soto, 27, also of Brooklyn, was nabbed on Sept. 24 for allegedly shoplifting in Downtown Brooklyn, cops said.
On Oct. 2, David Porath, 55, of The Bronx, tallied three arrests for criminal contempt in connection with domestic violence, police said.
Donald Stanley, 57, of Queens, was charged on the same day with reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, drug possession and operating a vehicle impaired by drugs, cops said.
Michael Harris, 55, of Hempstead, LI, was arrested on Oct. 3 in Manhattan for allegedly pilfering items from a Food Emporium.
John Henderson, 58, of Brooklyn, was nabbed in that borough Oct. 5 for alleged petit larceny at a CVS, authorities said.
Mayor de Blasio has also released at least seven other Rikers inmates in an early-release program as part of City Hall efforts to reduce the inmate head count.
Hizzoner insisted they will set free jailbirds who, judging from prior actions, are not likely to act violently. None of the seven have been rearrested, officials said.
About 180 people held at Rikers are eligible for release under Article 6A of the state Correction Law, which allows the mayor to discharge certain people into a supervised-release program. The process that determines who is and isn’t likely to reoffend was to be completed last week.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea has criticized plans to release dozens inmates early from the out-of-control jail, saying the detainees “worked awfully hard to get in there.”