Bronx DA drops charges against public defender accused of smuggling drugs into Rikers

The Queens public defender arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle THC-laced papers to a Rikers Island inmate has been cleared, according to prosecutors — who dropped the case after tests on the documents came back negative for drugs.

The Bronx District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday it decided against prosecuting Bernardo Caceres, a staff attorney at the Queens Defenders who was busted on June 11 at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center inside the city’s notorious jail.

Caceres had been accused of trying to sneak in more than 130 pages of paper laced with THC to an inmate with whom he was scheduled to meet.

The 30-year-old attorney was visiting Luis DeJesus, who’s jailed on second-degree burglary charges — when a K-9 dog started sniffing around a yellow envelope Caceres had brought with him to Rikers, according to past reports.

One correction officer seized the package and discovered multiple discolored legal-sized papers, which were confiscated by the Correctional Intelligence Bureau.

The agency later said that the papers tested positive for THC.

But lab tests revealed that no drugs were found on the documents possessed by the attorney, the Bronx DA’s office said.

The attorney had been facing a charge of promoting prison contraband, a felony that had him facing up to seven years in prison before the case was dropped and sealed.

The Daily News was first to report about charges being dropped by Caceres.

Caceres did not immediately respond to phone calls and emails attempts by the Post.