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For Immediate Release:
For Further Information:
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May 9, 2011

Office of The Attorney General
- Paula T. Dow, Attorney General
Division of Criminal Justice
- Stephen J. Taylor, Director

Media Inquiries-
Peter Aseltine
609-292-4791
Citizen Inquiries-
609-292-4925

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Inmate at Northern State Prison Pleads Guilty to Racketeering as Member of Ring That Smuggled Cell Phones & Drugs Into Prison
An outside accomplice and two inmates who were customers also plead guilty

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TRENTON - Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that an inmate at Northern State Prison in Newark pleaded guilty today to being a member of a network that smuggled pre-paid cell phones and drugs into the prison. An outside accomplice and two inmates who were customers also pleaded guilty today.

According to Director Taylor, Quadir Barnes, 32, pleaded guilty to a second-degree charge of racketeering before Superior Court Judge Mathias E. Rodriguez in Middlesex County. Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that he be sentenced to six years in state prison, with the sentence to run consecutive to his current state prison sentence.

Deputy Attorneys General Cassandra Serentino and Michael Wicke took the guilty pleas for the Division of Criminal Justice. The charges stem from Operation Empire, a joint investigation by the New Jersey State Police, the Department of Corrections and the Division of Criminal Justice.

In pleading guilty, Barnes admitted that he was part of a network of inmates who solicited customers and distributed cell phones and narcotics that were smuggled into the prison by a former corrections officer, Luis S. Roman, 47, of Avenel. Roman pleaded guilty on April 18 to charges of racketeering and official misconduct. The state will recommend that Roman be sentenced to 14 years in state prison, including five years of parole ineligibility.

Barnes, Roman and 17 other defendants who allegedly distributed contraband in the prison or acted as accomplices outside the prison were charged with racketeering and conspiracy in a state grand jury indictment obtained by the Division of Criminal Justice on Sept. 15, 2010. Separate indictments obtained that month charged 16 inmates who bought contraband.

Three other defendants also pleaded guilty today:

  • Shanta Barnes, 25, of East Orange, pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree conspiracy for acting as an accomplice outside the prison for her brother, Quadir Barnes. She faces probation.
  • Serafim DeGarcia, 33, an inmate in the Adult Diagnostic Treatment Center in Avenel, pleaded guilty as a purchaser of contraband to fourth-degree obstructing justice. He faces a sentence of 18 months in prison, consecutive to his current sentence.
  • Rotimi Washington, 37, an inmate at Northern State Prison, also pleaded guilty as a customer to fourth-degree obstructing justice. He also faces a consecutive 18-month prison sentence.

The investigation revealed that Roman smuggled contraband into the prison several times a week, including pre-paid cell phones, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, hiding the items in his protective vest and boots. The inmates who acted as distributors had family members or friends outside the prison who allegedly acted as accomplices by buying phones and drugs and packaging them for delivery to Roman. The investigation revealed that inmates paid for the items by having money wired to Roman’s wife or another accomplice on the outside.

The Department of Corrections Special Investigations Division began looking into the possibility of a correction officer or other prison worker smuggling contraband into Northern State Prison after numerous wireless phones of the same makes and models were confiscated from inmates.

The joint investigation by the State Police and the Department of Corrections began in July 2009. Roman’s smuggling continued from at least August 2007 to Nov. 14, 2009, when he was arrested with his wife. Ann Marie Roman, 36, of Keasbey, who now is divorced from Luis Roman, pleaded guilty on Sept. 14, 2010 before Superior Court Judge Frederick P. DeVesa to second-degree conspiracy to commit bribery. She admitted that, at her husband’s direction, she received thousands of dollars through Western Union and Money Gram as payment for smuggled items.

Roman allegedly used two trusted inmates at Northern State Prison as his organizers or middle men. Those inmates, Angel Vasquez, 53, and Willie Wade, 46, in turn allegedly employed numerous other inmates, including Barnes, as distributors to canvass the prison for customers. The customers agreed to pay a fee for the contraband. For example, if an inmate wanted a pre-paid cell phone, he would have to pay up to $400, plus an additional $200 as a “shipment fee.” At each level of the organization, middle-men and distributors received a certain amount of money. Once the contraband was smuggled in, Roman allegedly would pass it along to his middle men, who would give it to the distributor inmates, frequently kitchen and laundry workers, who would distribute the contraband throughout the prison. The indictments are merely accusations and the remaining defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The investigation was led by Detective Timothy Hackett and Detective Sgt. Dennis Buoye of the New Jersey State Police Street Gang North Unit, and Principal Investigator Scott Russo, Senior Investigator Michael Kubik and Senior Investigator Omar Howard of the Department of Corrections Special Investigations Division. Supervising Deputy Attorney General Andrew M. Butchko and Deputy Attorneys General Cassandra Serentino, Daniel Bornstein and Julia S. Glass prepared and presented the case to the state grand jury for the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau.

Judge Rodriquez set sentencing dates in June for the defendants who pleaded guilty today. Roman is scheduled for sentencing in October.

The indictments are posted with the Sept. 23, 2010 press release at www.njpublicsafety.com.

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