After seven months of reviewing candidates, a federal judge overseeing Rikers Island announced the appointment of Nicholas Deml, a former CIA officer, as the “remediation manager” who will have sweeping powers to enact highly-anticipated reforms at the troubled jail complex.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered Deml — who most recently headed the Vermont detention system — and the Mamdani administration to meet promptly to hash out the logistics of his appointment including compensation, initial staffing for his team, operational arrangements and a preliminary budget.
Swain instructed Deml, 38, and city officials to submit a joint report outlining that plan, and any unresolved issues, within 21 days. That’s also when Deml would be formally appointed, she said.
His appointment comes after Swain repeatedly found prior jail leadership incapable of fixing itself. In prior rulings, she cited missed deadlines, broken promises and a persistent inability by the Department of Correction to rein in violence, chronic staff absenteeism and prolonged lockdowns.
Here’s what we know about Deml — and some major outstanding questions about his new role.
Who is Nicholas Deml?
He is currently the managing director of Everly Bly & Co., what he describes online as a “boutique advisory and consulting firm.” He previously served four years as commissioner of the Vermont Department of Corrections, overseeing prisons, jails and community supervision statewide.
Vermont’s correctional system operates on a vastly smaller scale than New York City’s.
Its unified statewide system incarcerates roughly 1,600 people at any given time, according to state figures. That includes about 1,100 people serving sentences and roughly 500 held in pretrial detention. Those populations are housed together across six facilities, most holding fewer than 400 people, and some fewer than 100.
Rikers Island currently has about 7,000 people across multiple jails.
Before overseeing the corrections department, Deml served as a clandestine service intelligence officer with the Central Intelligence Agency from 2013 to 2021.
He began his career as an attorney and aide to U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, on the Senate Judiciary Committee, handling matters involving civil rights, constitutional law and national security.
Deml has also held leadership roles in national criminal justice policy organizations, including the Council on Criminal Justice and the Correctional Leaders Association, where he chaired a committee focused on restrictive housing — a practice that has drawn sustained scrutiny at Rikers.
What was his reputation in Vermont?
Some criminal defense advocates who worked with Deml in Vermont say he prided himself on transparency and never shied away from bad news.
Marshall Pahl, Vermont’s deputy defender general and chief juvenile defender, said Deml stood out among the many corrections commissioners he has dealt with over the years.
“He’s my favorite one I’ve ever worked with,” Pahl told THE CITY, noting he has served through at least five commissioners during his tenure. “People in these institutions tend to be institutionally defensive, and he was not in any way, shape or form.”
Pahl said that even when Deml and the public defender’s office were in direct conflict, Deml did not withhold information or obstruct oversight.
“What we got with Nick that we did not get with other commissioners was an incredible amount of transparency,” Pahl recalled. “Whether we agreed or disagreed, we never felt like they were hiding the ball on us — and that’s huge in the work that we do.”
According to Pahl, Deml allowed access to information and investigations that prior commissioners resisted, even when those disclosures risked strengthening legal challenges against the department.
“We always thought of him as a good adversary,” Pahl said,“not someone trying to manipulate the perception of what was going on.”
Pahl cautioned that he has no firsthand knowledge of Rikers Island or the scope of New York City’s jail crisis, calling the remediation manager role “a really big, tough job.”
During Deml’s tenure, the Vermont corrections department emphasized treatment for substance use disorder while broadening peer recovery programs and educational services.
He faced controversy over a cluster of deaths at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield in 2022 and 2023, which raised questions about the prison’s health services. Investigators determined that medical staff employed by VitalCore Health Strategies appeared to struggle with CPR and defibrillator use, according to reporting by Vermont Digger.
What was his relationship with unions?
Deml didn’t hesitate to take on the unions representing prison officers and supervisors, according to people who followed his tenure.
“He did cause some trouble in Vermont with the union, because they were always one of the biggest issues in prison reform,” said one jail insider who asked to remain anonymous.
That sometimes involved firing bad officers or supervisors even though prior commissioners either ignored issues or promoted those people.
“He won every fight he picked,” the source said.
Under his watch, the department launched an internal investigations unit to scrutinize incidents including inmate deaths and escape attempts, and moved to restructure its grievance process following a critical audit by the state comptroller’s office.
In New York City, Deml will likely have the power to change the city’s longstanding collective bargaining agreements if necessary.
The Correctional Officers Benevolent Association welcomed his appointment.
In a statement on X, COBA President Benny Boscio said officers have faced “unprecedented challenges” in recent years and expressed hope that Deml’s background as a former corrections chief would translate into an understanding of frontline safety concerns.
Boscio said he looked forward to working with Deml and emphasized the role officers play in maintaining security inside the city’s jails, adding that he expects “the voices of my members are heard” as reforms move forward.
Who has final say on Rikers?
The Department of Correction now has many overseers including the mayor, Judge Swain, a federal monitor appointed by Swain, the new remediation manager, and the department’s commissioner, who Mayor Zohran Mamdani has not yet appointed.
Swain wants everyone to work together to come up with a consensus.
Ultimately, Deml will likely have the most power over any major change or initiative, according to Swain. He will be charged with coming up with a plan to turn around the scandal-scarred department.
Steve Martin, the federal monitor appointed by Swain, will remain in place and report on progress — or lack thereof — of that plan.
Some veteran jail experts have criticized the setup, arguing that it will lead to confusion and costly overlap. They’ve noted Martin, who is based in Austin, Texas, has been in place for nearly a decade without any major positive reforms taking hold.
Katherine Haas, a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society involved in the case, defended the setup and cited Swain’s decision.
“Mr. Deml will be the one who is empowered as the remediation manager to make changes within the DOC, but the cooperation of the monitor and the commissioner are expected,” she told THE CITY.
How was Deml selected?
In May, Swain ordered the city and Legal Aid Society to select four potential candidates for the role. They were able to rank their preferred candidates but Swain had final say.
Behind the scenes, Legal Aid interviewed at least one other candidate six times. In an interview, the candidate described it as the most intense job application process they’d ever undergone.
Martin also reviewed the potential finalists, according to a person familiar with the process.
Legal Aid is “excited” about Deml’s appointment because of his record of transparency and embrace of programming to assist people behind bars, according to Haas.
“He’s demonstrated an understanding that part of a safe and secure jail is making incarcerated people’s lives better,” she said. “In his time in Vermont, he undertook a lot of important initiatives, such as peer to peer recovery programming, improving healthcare and expanding educational opportunities that show that he has compassion for our clients and understands the importance of keeping them safe.”
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