Nassau jail nurse smuggled drug into facility, officials say

A Nassau County jail nurse faces official misconduct and conspiracy charges after authorities say she started a romantic relationship with an inmate and smuggled marijuana into the facility for him.

Carroll Ann Clarke Pilgrim, 31, of Far Rockaway, Queens, pleaded not guilty Thursday to the two misdemeanor charges in Hempstead district court and Judge Maxine Broderick released her conditionally to probation officials.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Jesse Aviram said at Clark Pilgrim’s arraignment that she and the inmate “considered themselves husband and wife,” and she had brought banned items into the jail multiple times for him, including marijuana.

Records show authorities arrested the nurse Wednesday at the East Meadow jail, charging her in a scheme investigators have alleged began about seven months ago and involved inmate Laphael McClenic, 33. He is on trial on robbery and weapon charges, according to court records.

Clark Pilgrim told an investigator from the Nassau district attorney’s office that she got involved with McClenic after meeting him on the job and brought marijuana into the jail numerous times, the records also say.

Authorities have alleged a family member of McClenic gave Clarke Pilgrim marijuana, and in late December, the nurse initiated a three-way call involving the inmate and that relative of the inmate to discuss the marijuana.

The officials also claim the nurse had the drug that December day, intended to give it to McClenic, and brought a substance she thought was marijuana into the jail Feb. 25.

Three days earlier, an investigator saw Clarke Pilgrim attending McClenic’s Nassau County Court trial, according to authorities.

McClenic’s attorney, Maureen McBride, said Thursday that to her knowledge, her client wasn’t facing charges in the alleged scheme. The Mineola lawyer declined further comment.

The nurse ignored a question after her arraignment and left court with a scarf covering her head and face. Her attorney, Stephen Bilkis, said his client maintains she did nothing wrong.

“When the facts come out, we think our client is going to be deemed innocent,” the Baldwin attorney said.

Nassau Acting Sheriff Vera Fludd said in a prepared statement that the arrest “should serve as a warning to anyone who may be thinking of breaking the law at the facility,” and also she thanked the district attorney’s office for “partnership during this investigation.”

Prosecutors declined to comment Thursday.

Clarke Pilgrim’s post-arrest status of employment, as a public servant who works at the jail for Nassau Health Care Corporation, wasn’t immediately clear. Court records show the nurse also worked at the jail when Armor Correctional Health Services was the facility’s medical vendor.

Her arrest marks the second arrest of a Nassau jail nurse in recent years involving smuggling scheme allegations. Last year, former Armor nurse Chantiel Cox pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of promoting prison contraband.

Cox’s plea ended a case that included guilty pleas from two other defendants, ignited security questions, and led the district attorney’s office to conclude the Sheriff’s Department and former County Executive Edward Mangano’s top staff mishandled an internal probe into razor and drug smuggling at the jail.