(Reuters) - A federal court employee referred criminal defendants in New York to a private defense lawyer for more than a decade in exchange for bribes, prosecutors said on Thursday.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan said Dionisio Figueroa used his position as a Southern District of New York court clerk to encourage criminal defendants, most of whom had free, court-appointed lawyers, to switch counsel and instead hire private lawyer Telesforo Del Valle Jr. in pending cases.

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Figueroa, 66, was arrested and Del Valle, 65, surrendered earlier Thursday, prosecutors said. Lawyers for Telesforo and Figueroa declined to comment.

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Figueroa referred at least 45 criminal defendants to Del Valle as possible clients from 2011 to 2022, and at least 20 ended up retaining him, prosecutors said in the indictment.

In return, Del Valle gave Figueroa referral payments in cash that totaled "at least tens of thousands of dollars," prosecutors said.

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Figueroa's responsibilities as a clerk included criminal case intake and record-keeping, prosecutors said. He vouched for Del Valle when talking with defendants or their families as they appeared in court, in some cases giving them the lawyer's business card, and other times calling Del Valle's office himself to make the connection, prosecutors said.

Court rules prohibit clerks from taking outside work that would pose a...

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