| TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram announced
that a suspended senior corrections officer
who worked at Northern State Prison in Newark
has been indicted on charges he led a cocaine
trafficking network operating in Newark and
East Orange. A second alleged leader and four
others were also indicted.
According to Criminal Justice
Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni, the Division
of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized
Crime Bureau obtained a state grand jury indictment
charging the former corrections officer, Eugene
W. Braswell, 30, of Newark, and Delrese Hardy,
35, of East Orange, with leading a narcotics
trafficking network, a first-degree offense
that carries a maximum sentence of life in
prison with 25 years of parole ineligibility
and a $750,000 fine. The indictment also charges
Joseph L. Jones, 38, of Newark, Antwan K.
Jones, 37, of Sewaren, Walter S. Braden, 31,
of East Orange, and Shuerod Walton, 37, of
East Orange.
The
indictment was returned
on Oct. 15 but was sealed until late yesterday.
The six defendants were arrested
in July 2008 as a result of an investigation
by the New Jersey State Police and the New
Jersey Division of Criminal Justice. The investigation
revealed that Braswell and Hardy supervised
the other defendants in the purchase and inter-state
transportation of large quantities of cocaine
from sources in Texas and elsewhere outside
New Jersey. The cocaine was sold and distributed
in northern New Jersey.
“The indictment charges
that this senior corrections officer betrayed
his oath to uphold the law by trafficking
in large quantities of cocaine in northern
New Jersey,” said Attorney General Milgram.
“He is charged as one of the leaders
of this major narcotics ring.”
Braswell was suspended without
pay from his job with the Department of Corrections
after his arrest. He is free on $500,000 bail.
All defendants are charged
with possession of cocaine with intent to
distribute (1st degree), conspiracy (2nd degree),
and possession of cocaine (3rd degree). Braswell
is also charged with official misconduct (2nd
degree) and unlawful possession of a handgun
(2nd degree), while Hardy is charged with
additional drug counts, including a second
count of first-degree possession of cocaine
with intent to distribute. Braswell, Hardy,
Joseph Jones and Antwan Jones are charged
with money laundering and conspiracy to launder
money (both 2nd degree).
The investigation into drug
trafficking began after Braswell was involved
in a shooting incident in August 2007 outside
his Newark home in which he shot and killed
Waliford Williams, 34. According to an investigation
by the Attorney General’s Shooting Response
Team, Williams shot at Braswell with a 9 mm
semi-automatic handgun, striking Braswell
in the left ankle. Braswell returned fire
with his own .40-caliber handgun, striking
Williams twice, including once in the neck.
Williams died at the scene.
“The state’s investigation
into the fatal shooting involving this corrections
officer opened a door on his alleged illicit
life of drug dealing,” said Director
Gramiccioni. “Detectives from the State
Police and Division of Criminal Justice tenaciously
pursued the evidence regarding Braswell and
his co-conspirators, leading to this newly
unsealed indictment.”
The drug investigation led
to the arrest of Walton and Braden on July
12, 2008 following a motor vehicle stop in
Pohatcong Township, Warren County. Detectives
had a warrant to search the 2000 Dodge Ram
Van in which the men were traveling. They
seized approximately 20 kilograms of cocaine
which were wrapped in heat-sealed plastic
bags and hidden within a concealed compartment
in the roof panels of the vehicle. The men
were allegedly returning from Houston, Texas,
with the drugs.
Members of the State Police
and Division of Criminal Justice arrested
the other four defendants on July 24, 2008.
Search warrants were executed at Braswell’s
home in Newark and Hardy’s home in East
Orange. A 2002 Cadillac Escalade and 2003
Chevrolet Van owned by Braswell were also
seized. Approximately 1 ½ kilograms
of cocaine, $13,878 in cash and drug packaging
materials were recovered in Hardy’s
home. Cash totaling $17,020 and equipment
and materials for drug packaging were found
in Braswell’s home. A Smith & Wesson
.357 revolver was found in a hidden compartment
in the Escalade.
The investigation was conducted
by Detective Sgt. Geoffrey Forker and members
of the New Jersey State Police Official Corruption
Unit working jointly with members of the Division
of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized
Crime Bureau, North Squad, supervised by Deputy
Attorney General Mark Eliades, chief of the
DCJ Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau, and
Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Manis of the
DCJ Corruption Bureau.
Bail was set at $500,000 for
each of the defendants at time of arrest.
All of the defendants posted bail and were
released from the Warren County Jail.
The charge of first-degree
possession of cocaine with intent to distribute
carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in
state prison and a $500,000 fine. Second-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years
and a $150,000 fine. The second-degree official
misconduct charge carries a mandatory minimum
sentence of five years without possibility
of parole, and the second-degree money laundering
charge carries an enhanced fine of $250,000.
The third-degree drug charges carry a maximum
sentence of five years in prison and a $35,000
fine.
The
indictment
is merely an accusation and the defendants
are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The
indictment
was handed up in Superior Court in Mercer
County. It was assigned to Warren County,
where the defendants will be arraigned in
court at a later date on the charges.
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