TRENTON
- Attorney General Paula T. Dow today announced
the indictment of a former correction officer
at Northern State Prison in Newark and 34
other individuals on charges that they conspired
in a major scheme to smuggle pre-paid cell
phones and drugs into the prison.
Attorney
General Dow made the announcement at Northern
State Prison with Commissioner Gary M. Lanigan
of the Department of Corrections, Director
Stephen J. Taylor of the Division of Criminal
Justice, and Major Matt Wilson of the New
Jersey State Police. The state grand jury
indictments were obtained by the Division
of Criminal Justice as a result of Operation
Empire, an investigation by the New Jersey
State Police and the Department of Corrections.
Former
correction officer Luis S. Roman, 47, of
Avenel, allegedly made thousands of dollars
by using a network of inmates to solicit
customers and distribute the contraband
he smuggled into the prison. The inmates
allegedly had family members or friends
outside the prison who acted as accomplices
by buying phones and drugs and packaging
them for delivery to Roman. Inmates paid
for the items by having money wired to Roman’s
wife or another accomplice on the outside.
According
to Director Taylor, Roman and 18 other defendants
who distributed contraband in prison or
acted as accomplices outside the prison
are charged in a single indictment with
racketeering and conspiracy, both in the
second degree. The indictment also charges
all but one of those defendants with second-degree
bribery and third-degree money laundering.
Roman is charged with second-degree official
misconduct. The racketeering charge carries
a sentence of up to 10 years in state prison,
which would be consecutive to the sentences
for any underlying offenses. Another 16
inmates who bought contraband are charged
in 16 separate indictments.
“We
know that narcotics and cell phones are
smuggled into our prisons, and that inmates
use these phones to direct gang activities
and make arrangements to get more contraband,”
said Attorney General Dow. “What those
who are responsible for this smuggling need
to know is that we are going to catch them
and we are going to come down hard on them.”
“While
we allege that Roman attempted to conceal
his identity from most of the inmates who
distributed the cell phones and drugs that
he smuggled, he ultimately was caught in
his own criminal web,” said Director
Taylor. “All of the threads of evidence
led back to him as the alleged leader of
this scheme and the source of the contraband.”
“Even
one corrupt correction officer smuggling
phones and drugs into a secure prison can
jeopardize safety in the whole facility.
Investigations have shown that cell phones
in prisons have been tied to ‘hits’
being ordered on witnesses and law enforcement
personnel. We will continue to work with
our law enforcement partners to arrest anyone
involved in this organized criminal activity,”
said Major Matt Wilson, Commanding Officer
of the State Police Intelligence Section.
“I’d
like to thank everyone from the law enforcement
community, including the Department of Corrections’
Special Investigation Division, who played
a part in securing these indictments,”
said Commissioner Gary M. Lanigan. “I
find it appalling that a correction officer
would place his co-workers as well as the
community-at-large in danger by smuggling
contraband into a secure facility for his
personal profit. This is yet another example
of why passage of H.R. 560, the Safe Prisons
Communications Act, which would permit cell
phone jamming in prisons, is so critically
important. Passed by the U.S. Senate unanimously
and endorsed by Governor Christie and law
enforcement officials throughout the country,
this legislation would effectively transform
cell phones into a 4-ounce piece of garbage
in a prison setting.”
The
racketeering indictment was returned on
Sept. 15 but sealed by the court until yesterday.
The other indictments were returned yesterday
(Sept. 22). Roman was jailed after his arrest
last November, but posted $100,000 bail
in August and remains free. Arrest warrants
were issued for the other 18 defendants
in the racketeering indictment, with bail
set at amounts ranging from $100,000 to
$200,000. Most of them have been arrested.
Roman
allegedly 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
Department of Corrections Special Investigations
Division began looking into the possibility
of a corrections 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. The indictment alleges Roman’s
smuggling continued from at least August
2007 to Nov. 14, 2009, when he was arrested
with his wife. Roman was assigned to the
Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in
Avenel in 2007, and he allegedly engaged
in smuggling there too.
Ann
Marie Roman, 36, of Keasbey, who now is
divorced from Luis Roman, pleaded guilty
on Sept. 14 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 to him for smuggled
items. The state will recommend that she
be sentenced in the third-degree range of
three to five years in state prison.
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 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, but Roman allegedly kept
the majority of the profits. Family members
of inmate customers were allegedly instructed
to wire money to Ann Marie Roman, who used
her prior married name, Ann Marie Hernandez,
or to defendant Justiniano Vazquez, 61,
of the Bronx, N.Y.
Distributor
inmates were required to have trusted outside
sources, preferably women, with access to
drugs. Once orders were taken, it was the
responsibility of distributor inmates to
contact their outside sources by cell phone
to have them assemble packages of narcotics
and pre-paid cell phones along with any
“shipment fees,” which were
additional cash bribes allegedly required
by Roman. Inmates would communicate with
each other using “kites,” small
pieces of scrap paper that could easily
be passed from inmate to inmate. After packages
were assembled, the middle men would allegedly
contact Roman with information about the
outside sources he was to meet.
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
different areas of the prison. Roman allegedly
knew the identities of the distributor inmates,
but he had no direct contact with most of
them.
When
Luis and Ann Marie Roman were arrested on
November 14, 2009, search warrants were
executed at their residences in Avenel and
Keasbey, allegedly yielding documentary
and physical evidence of his smuggling activities.
Evidence was also seized during searches
of inmates’ cells. Detectives obtained
records from Western Union and Money Gram
that detail thousands of dollars in transactions
allegedly related to the smuggling scheme.
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.
The
following defendants are charged in the
racketeering indictment:
Leader
1.
Luis Roman
Inmate
Organizers/Middle Men
2.
Angel Vasquez
3. Willie Wade
Recipient
of Wired Funds
4.
Justiniano Vazquez
Inmate
Distributors
5.
Alvin Blankson, 31
6. Dwayne Mann, 43
7. Johnny Jones, 36
8. Leander Williams, 39
9. Malik Teel, 31
10. Quadir Barnes, 31
11. Stacey Moore, 29
Outside
Sources for Distributors
(allegedly delivered cell phones
and drugs to Roman)
12.
Tracy Mainor, 46, of Jersey City
13. Rozzion Fox (man), 24, North Brunswick
14. Yakyra Hickson, 28, Nutley
15. Nyantee Davis, 25, Avenel
16. Chez Hodges, 30, Newark
17. Tynisha Moore, 35, of Newark
18. Alicia Holloway, 43, of Bronx, N.Y.
19. Shanta Barnes, 24, of East Orange.
Rozzion
Fox is the only defendant charged in the
racketeering indictment who is not charged
with second-degree bribery and third-degree
money laundering.
The
following inmates are charged in 16 separate
indictments as customers of the smuggling
operation. (Where indicated, the defendants
were inmates at the Adult Diagnostic and
Treatment Center in Avenel. The others were
inmates at Northern State Prison.)
Inmate
Customers
20.
Lonnie Daniels, 48
21. Serafin DeGarcia, 32 (Avenel)
22. Vincent Heredia, 34
23. Roberto Lascano, 24
24. Abdul Mumin, 41 (Avenel)
25. Fateen Powell, 32
26. Angel Rivera, 33
27. Dawud Thompson, 30
28. Rotimi Washington, 36
29. Sharrod Hardgrove, 34
30. Allen Rivera, 30
31. Earlest Gordon, 40
32. Michael Bordo, 34 (Avenel)
33. Jesse Gallagher, 37
34. Kevin Robinson, 39
35. Julio Bruno, 30
All
of the inmate customers are charged with
second-degree conspiracy and second-degree
bribery, with the exception of Angel Rivera
and Earlest Gordon, who are charged with
second-degree conspiracy and third-degree
unlawful possession of a cell phone in prison.
Luis
Roman is charged with numerous counts of
second-degree bribery and numerous counts
of third-degree money laundering. He is
also charged with three counts of second-degree
unlawful transfer of a cell phone in a state
prison and one count of fourth-degree distribution
of marijuana.
Second-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years
in state prison and a $150,000 fine; third-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of five
years in prison and a $15,000 fine; and
fourth-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence
of 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine.
As
previously stated, the racketeering charge
carries a sentence of up to 10 years in
prison, which would be consecutive to the
sentences for any underlying offenses. The
second-degree official misconduct charge
against Roman carries a maximum sentence
of 10 years in state prison, including five
years without possibility of parole. The
indictments are merely accusations and the
defendants are presumed innocent until proven
guilty. The indictments were handed up to
Superior Court Judge Edward M. Neafsey in
Mercer County, who assigned them to Middlesex
County.
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