Daryl “Taxstone” Campbell, currently serving a 35-year sentence for the 2016 shooting of Troy Ave’s bodyguard, has been hit with new charges for allegedly orchestrating a contraband smuggling operation at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced on Thursday (March 6) that Taxstone is one of eight inmates charged with smuggling or possessing illegal items, including drugs, cigarettes, and weapons, within the facility.
A former correctional officer at MDC is also implicated in the smuggling scheme, which involved marijuana and cigarettes. The facility, known for housing high-profile figures such as alleged United HealthCare killer Luigi Mangione and Diddy, is now under further scrutiny.
Taxstone is accused of coordinating the smuggling of drugs, a scalpel, and other contraband items between April and June 2024 with five other inmates. The operation allegedly involved throwing a “line” from a window at the facility, where a co-conspirator outside would attach contraband for retrieval.
“In several voice recordings found on [a contraband cell phone], Campbell explained his method of throwing a ‘line’ out of a window of MDC-Brooklyn for a co-conspirator on the outside to ‘hook’ or attach contraband, which could then be pulled back inside,” a press release reads.
On June 30, 2024, the plan was disrupted when correctional officers discovered suboxone, marijuana, a scalpel, a phone charger, lighters, and cigarettes at the end of a rope pulled through the window of a recreation room.
Taxstone now faces an additional 10 years to his sentence if convicted.