N.Y. Laws » CHAPTER Penal / PART Specific Offenses / TITLE Offenses Against Public Administration / ARTICLE Escape and Other Offenses Relating to Custody
New York Consolidated Laws

N.Y. Penal Law § 205.25 (2026)

Promoting prison contraband in the first degree

✓ current as of May 2026
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§ 205.25 Promoting prison contraband in the first degree.
  A person is guilty of promoting prison contraband in the first degree
when:
  1. He knowingly and unlawfully introduces any dangerous contraband
into a detention facility; or
  2. Being a person confined in a detention facility, he knowingly and
unlawfully makes, obtains or possesses any dangerous contraband.
  Promoting prison contraband in the first degree is a class D felony.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 223 cases (19 in the last 5 years), 1985–2025 · leading case: People v. Finley, 891 N.E.2d 1165 (NY 2008).
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People v. Finley, 891 N.E.2d 1165 (NY 2008). · cites it 3× “00 were new, they also indicate that the felony/misdemeanor distinction set forth in Penal Law §§ 205.25 and 205.20 "substantially restates" that same distinction as established in former Penal Law § 1691 (3) and (2) ( see Staff Notes of Temp St Commn on Rev of Penal Law and…”
People v. Gagnier, 146 A.D.3d 1019 (N.Y. App. Div. 2017). “Finally, the promoting prison contraband charge required the People to demonstrate that defendant “knowingly and unlawfully [introduced] any dangerous contraband into [the] detention facility” (Penal Law § 205.25 [1]). The record shows that while the inmate was searched at…”
People v. Green, 119 A.D.3d 23 (N.Y. App. Div. 2014). · cites it 2× “obtains or possesses any dangerous contraband” (Penal Law § 205.25 [2]). “Dangerous contraband,” in turn, is defined as “contraband which is capable of such use as may endanger the safety or security of a detention facility or any person therein” (Penal Law § 205.”
People v. Robinson, 2020 NY Slip Op 2950 (N.Y. App. Div. 2020). · cites it 3× “Defendant contends that the evidence was legally insufficient to prove his guilt, and that the verdict was against the weight of evidence, as the People failed to establish that the scalpel was "dangerous contraband" (Penal Law § 205.25 [2]) or that he had possessed the scalpel,…”
People v. Brisman, 2025 NY Slip Op 00123 (NY 2025). · cites it 2× “Defendant was convicted of promoting prison contraband in the first degree (Penal Law § 205.25 [2]) and sentenced as a second felony offender to 3½ to 7 years in prison (200 AD3d 1219, 1219-1221 [3d Dept 2021]).”
People v. Barzee, 2021 NY Slip Op 00052 (N.Y. App. Div. 2021). “[b]eing a person confined in a detention facility, he [or she] knowingly and unlawfully makes, obtains or possesses any dangerous contraband" (Penal Law § 205.25 [2]). [*2]"Contraband" is defined as "any article or thing which a person in a detention facility is prohibited from…”
People v. Vasquez, 678 N.E.2d 482 (NY 1997). · cites it 2× “On April 14, 1994, defendant was indicted by the Chemung County Grand Jury and charged with one count of promoting prison contraband, a class D felony (Penal Law § 205.25). By omnibus motion dated April 29, 1994, defendant moved to dismiss the charge on double jeopardy grounds.”
People v. Livingston, 262 A.D.2d 786 (N.Y. App. Div. 1999). · cites it 3× “Defendant’s central contention for reversal of the jury’s verdict is that it was against the weight of the evidence, essentially because the circumstances of his isolated and heavily monitored confinement and strip searches at both facilities made it unlikely that he had the…”
People v. McLamore, 2021 NY Slip Op 00926 (N.Y. App. Div. 2021). · cites it 3× “It is hereby ORDERED that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously modified on the law by reducing the conviction of promoting prison contraband in the first degree (Penal Law § 205.25 [1]) under count five of the indictment to promoting prison contraband in the second…”
People v. Davey, 134 A.D.3d 1448 (N.Y. App. Div. 2015). · cites it 2× “1 and 2, defendant appeals from judgments convicting him upon a jury verdict of two counts of promoting prison contraband in the first degree (Penal Law § 205.25 [2]), as charged in separate indictments.”
People v. Darrell, 145 A.D.3d 1316 (N.Y. App. Div. 2016). “The precise object possessed is not an element of the crime (see Penal Law § 205.25 [2]).”
People v. Motley, 119 A.D.2d 57 (N.Y. App. Div. 1986). · cites it 3× “The indictment herein alleges that, in violation of Penal Law § 205.25 (2), defendant "being confined in the Elmira Correctional Facility, knowingly and unlawfully possessed dangerous contraband, to wit: a sharpened metal rod measuring approximately nine and one-quarter inches…”
Show all 223 citing cases →
— N.Y. Penal Law § 205.25(2) — 2 cases
Jackson v. Johnson, 15 F. Supp. 2d 341 (S.D.N.Y. 1998).
Jackson v. Johnson, 985 F. Supp. 422 (S.D.N.Y. 1997).
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