A high-ranking nurse at the Nassau County Correctional Center allegedly smuggled a ceramic blade to an inmate with whom she was having an “unauthorized relationship” — then told him the specific location of several other inmates, down to their individual cells.
The nurse — Yasmin Talbot, 48, of Levittown, Long Island — was indicted and arraigned Thursday at Nassau County Criminal Courthouse in Mineola on a litany of charges that could put her behind bars for up to seven years, District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said in a statement.
“Yasmin Talbot allegedly used her position to help an inmate gain access to a dangerous blade and confidential information on prisoner locations that posed a safety and security risk to other inmates and jail staff,” Donnelly said.
“Abuse of power by correctional employees and those who work in the facilities has a destabilizing effect on the jail population and creates potentially dangerous conditions,” she added.
Talbot — the second-highest-ranking nurse at the jail — pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of promoting prison contraband, offering a false instrument for filing, falsifying business records, official misconduct and conspiracy, Donnelly said.
A judge assigned her bail of $500 cash and $5,000 bond or partially-secured bond — then remanded her ahead of a Jan. 9 court date because her arrest violated an October plea agreement on an unrelated charge of aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child.
Prosecutors say Talbot, a nurse manager who worked for NuHealth, was allegedly involved in an “unauthorized relationship” with inmate Christopher Wright between January and May 2023.
She was allowed to have limited contact with inmates to oversee their care, Donnelly said.
But she wasn’t authorized to have actual conversations with the inmates — or even their friends or family. And she couldn’t bring or send inmates money or other things.
But that didn’t stop Talbot, who prosecutors say spoke to Wright in February 2023 about bringing a ceramic blade into the jail and handing it over to the inmate.
They talked about it a few times, then Talbot ordered a specific kind of drop-point blade on Amazon, Donnelly said.
After the blade arrived at her Levittown home, Talbot allegedly brought it into the facility.
On Feb. 24, 2023, guards brought Wright to the medical unit after he whined about chest pains. That’s when Talbot handed him the smuggled weapon, prosecutors said.
Guards found the exact model knife in Wright’s possession nearly a month later, Donnelly added.
Talbot also used a fake name to send money to Wright’s commissary account, and used her ability to access inmate records to find out the building, floor and cell where guards had lodged several inmates Wright was interested in, Donnelly said.
Then she gave the info to Wright “using coded language,” Donnelly added. It’s not clear why he wanted the information, or what he planned to do with it.
NuHealth suspended her on Aug. 23, 2023.
Nassau County detectives collared her Jan. 3 in Hempstead, the statement said.
Her arrest ran afoul of an October 2022 plea agreement she made after being caught on the aggravated driving while intoxicated charge.
She pleaded guilty on Oct. 26, and agreed to a year of probation, six months of alcohol monitoring and community service, Donnelly said.
But she also agreed that any new arrest would violate the agreement.
Wright also faces charges, including promoting prison contraband, official misconduct and conspiracy.
He pleaded not guilty, and his bail was set at $5,000 cash, $10,000 bond or $50,000 partially-secured bond, Donnelly said.
He also faces up to seven years in prison, and he’s due back in court Jan. 8.
“Let this be a warning to others that might consider bringing contraband into the correctional center,” Nassau County Sheriff Anthony La Rocco said in the statement.
“We will not tolerate anyone endangering the safety of the facility and anyone who does, will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he continued. “The safety and security of this correctional center, its staff, and the inmates are of the utmost importance.”