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TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that a suspended senior state
correction officer from Newark has pleaded
guilty to trafficking 22 kilograms of cocaine
from Texas to New Jersey.
According
to Criminal Justice Director Taylor, Eugene
W. Braswell, 31, of Newark, a suspended
senior state correction officer who worked
at Northern State Prison, pleaded guilty
late yesterday afternoon to first-degree
cocaine trafficking and second-degree official
misconduct before Superior Court Judge John
J. Coyle Jr. in Warren County. Braswell
and five other men were charged in an Oct.
15, 2009 indictment obtained as a result
of an investigation by the New Jersey State
Police and the New Jersey Division of Criminal
Justice.
Supervising
Deputy Attorney General Mark Eliades, Chief
of the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs
& Organized Crime Bureau, and Deputy
Attorney General Jeffrey Manis of the DCJ
Corruption Bureau took the plea. The state
will recommend that Braswell be sentenced
to 15 to 20 years in prison, including 10
to 12 ½ years of parole ineligibility.
He faces five years without possibility
of parole on the official misconduct charge
and a consecutive sentence of 10 to 15 years,
including five to 7 ½ years of parole
ineligibility, on the drug charge. He must
forfeit his job as a senior correction officer
and his state pension. Sentencing is scheduled
for May 6.
“This
senior correction officer was living a corrupt
double life, guarding prisoners for the
state while moonlighting as a major drug
trafficker,” said Attorney General
Dow. “Through this plea, we have ensured
that he will be spending all of his time
in prison for the foreseeable future.”
“Braswell’s
involvement in a fatal shooting in Newark
raised a red flag for detectives of the
State Police and Division of Criminal Justice,
who subsequently uncovered his narcotics
network,” said Director Taylor. “All
six defendants in this case now face lengthy
prison sentences.”
On
Jan. 21, 2011, Delrese Hardy, 37, of East
Orange, pleaded guilty to a first-degree
drug trafficking charge before Judge Coyle.
He faces a sentence of 15 to 20 years in
prison, including seven to 10 years of parole
ineligibility. In pleading guilty, Braswell
admitted that he and Hardy arranged to have
two other men transport 22 kilograms of
cocaine to New Jersey from Houston, Texas.
Those men, Walter S. Braden, 33, of East
Orange, and Shuerod Walton, 39, of East
Orange, pleaded guilty to second-degree
conspiracy charges and face up to seven
years in prison.
Two
additional members of the drug trafficking
ring, Joseph L. Jones, 39, of Newark, and
Antwan K. Jones, 39, of Sewaren, pleaded
guilty on Jan. 21, 2011 to second-degree
conspiracy to distribute cocaine. They each
face a sentence of seven to eight years
in prison, including three to four years
of parole ineligibility.
The
six defendants were arrested in July 2008.
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. Braswell was suspended
without pay from his job with the Department
of Corrections after his arrest.
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
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
22 kilograms of cocaine which were wrapped
in heat-sealed plastic bags and hidden in
the roof panels of the vehicle. The men
were 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 Supervising Deputy Attorney General Eliades
and Deputy Attorney General Manis, who prosecuted
the defendants.
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