EFTA00132403 # 90A-NY-3151227 Serial 78 FD-302 (Rev. 5-8-10) # -1 of 3- FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION Date of entry 09/06/2019 FREDERICO RANCIER-MEDRANO (MEDRANO) was interviewed at the United States Attorneys Office (USAO), Southern District of New York (SDNY), New York, New York. Present for the interview were Special Agent Task Force Officer Detective Assistant United States Attorney and MEDRANO's attorney, Ernest Hammer. After being advised of the identity of the interviewing investigators and the nature of the interview, MEDRANO provided the following information: MEDRANO was in the Special Housing Unit (SHU) at the METROPOLITAN CORRECTIONAL CENTER (MCC), New York, New York, from July 16, 2019 to July 26, 2019. MEDRANO's cellmate was HACINTA (phonetic) GARCIA for this entire time period. MEDRANO recalled that there was a correctional officer (Officer) who was referred to as that worked the morning shift at MCC, and would remember faces of other Officers, not necessarily names. MEDRANO stated that Monday, Wednesday, and Friday were shower days for inmates in the SHU. These days were the only days that the Officers would pay attention to inmates. Any other time, inmates would have to yell to get something from the Officers. The Officers would do counts of the inmates when they wanted to, not regular counts like MEDRANO knew from previous experiences of being in jail. According to MEDRANO, there were 96 inmates in the SHU and 48 cells. Before the incident happened, MEDRANO didn't remember the overnight checks of inmates actually being conducted by Officers in the SHU. MEDRANO referred to the "incident" as when a "guy" (guy), who's name MEDRANO could not recall but knew him from being in the news, tried to hang himself. After the incident, MEDRANO recalled the checks being done at 12am, 3am, and 5am. He remembered the checks because he would be awaken by the Officers doing the checks. Investigation on 08/15/2019 at New York, New York, United States (In Person) | File # | 90A-NY-3151227 | | :--- | :--- | | Date drafted | 08/22/2019 | | :--- | :--- | by This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It is the property of the FBI and is loaned to your agency; it and its contents are not to be distributed outside your agency. EFTA00132404 FD-302a (Rev. 5-8-10) # 90A-NY-3151227 Serial 78 90A-NY-3151227 Continuation of FD-302 of (U) Interview of FREDERICO RANCIER-MEDRANO , On 08/15/2019 , Page 2 of 3 MEDRANO stated that other inmates would yell things at the guy and that Officers would said things about him, making fun of him. For example, the Officers would say that he could buy his freedom. MEDRANO recalled that the guy would always be with his lawyers and this would hold up other inmates from seeing their attorneys. MEDRANO also recalled that the guy's cellmate used to be a police officer. The incident happened around 1:20am-1:30am. There had been no inmate check at midnight. MEDRANO was reading a book when he heard a commotion. The guy's cellmate was screaming and banging on the cell door to get the SHU Officers' attention. MEDRANO could only see the guy's cell door and could not see in the cell. It took Officer (phonetic) about five minutes to get to the guy's cell but then Officer turned back around to go get the key to the cell. Officer came back with a Lieutenant and two other Officers. MEDRANO described the Lieutenant as middle-aged, white complexion and one of the Officers as black, 6'3", and 260-270 lbs. The Officers opened the cell door and paid attention to the guy's bunkie first. They handcuffed the bunkie and put him inside the shower area. Then MEDRANO heard a big thump like something had hit the floor. He could see the guy's hands stretched out and then saw the Officers pull the guy out of the cell facedown. The guy, only wearing underwear, looked dead due to his skin having a blue tone. The Officers did not administer CPR, they were just looking at the guy. There was no doctor around. The Officers put something that resembled a stretcher on the floor and dropped the guy, who was already cuffed, hard onto the stretcher facedown. At that point, all the inmates started screaming and hitting doors. The Officers then flipped the guy over, dropping him again hard on the stretcher that was on the floor. The Officers and Lieutenant then took the guy away. A while later, around 2:10am-2:15am, the Officers and Lieutenant returned and took the cellmate out of the cell again. They then started to clean the cell. MEDRANO stated that the Lieutenant had a video camera with her, but had it turned in toward her leg to where the view of the camera would not be that of the cell. MEDRANO stated that he saw two orange socks and an orange towel that were tied together taken out of the cell. Once the cell had been cleaned out, the Lieutenant turned the video camera to where the view of the cell would be recorded. MEDRANO said that according to the quy's cellmate, the cellmate EFTA00132405 FD-302a (Rev. 5-8-10) # 90A-NY-3151227 Serial 78 90A-NY-3151227 Continuation of FD-302 of (U) Interview of FREDERICO RANCIER-MEDRANO ,On 08/15/2019 ,Page 3 of 3 was sleeping when the guy tried to kill himself by hanging himself from the ladder of the bed. The cellmate said that he thought the guy had died. MEDRANO didn't see the guy come back to the SHU before MEDRANO left on July 26. He heard that the guy was put on suicide watch after the incident. MEDRANO stated that after the incident, things changed in the SHU. Officers started bringing books to inmates and inmates didn't have to wait to make a phone call. The Officers started doing more checks with flashlights. MEDRANO specifically remembered the Officers doing the 12am and 5am inmate checks. He would usually be asleep during the 3am check. MEDRANO was shown a picture of Officer NOEL. MEDRANO said that she looked a little familiar but was not there the night of the incident. MEDRANO was then shown a picture of Officer THOMAS. MEDRANO stated that THOMAS worked in the SHU but was not there the night of the incident.