Rikers Extortions Noted Before Death.

During the year before an 18-year-old inmate was beaten to death on Rikers Island, the city's Department of Correction repeatedly documented groups of inmates working in violent extortion rings in several areas of the adolescent jail, according to reports based on internal department investigations. Bronx prosecutors have accused three correction officers and a dozen inmates of taking part in an extortion ring known as ''the Program'' that they said was involved in the death of the 18-year-old, Christopher Robinson, after he refused the ring's demands. Three inmates were charged with manslaughter. The guards, who prosecutors said sanctioned the ring to maintain control, and the other inmates face charges including assault, coercion and larceny. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]