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Man Who Died By Suicide In NJ Prison Had Been 'Begging' For Help, Attorney Says Man Who Died By Suicide In NJ Prison Had Been 'Begging' For Help, Attorney Says
Man Who Died By Suicide In NJ Prison Had Been 'Begging' For Help, Attorney Says A 24-year-old Vineland man died last week in prison, and his family's attorney said his death was avoidable had he gotten the mental health treatment he'd been requesting. Phillip John Frascella II, 24, died by suicide on March 13 at the Northern State Prison in Newark, according to his family's attorney, Jennifer Torsiello Cassett. "We are looking into the circumstances surrounding this tragedy, but we do not have the prison file or surveillance video yet," Cassett said. "What we do know is that Northern State Prison is a dangerous place, and this is not the first time this parti…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Corrections Officer Accused Of Smuggling Cold Cuts, Espresso Into NJ Prison For Inmate Indicted Corrections Officer Accused Of Smuggling Cold Cuts, Espresso Into NJ Prison For Inmate Indicted
Corrections Officer Accused Of Smuggling Cold Cuts, Espresso Into NJ Prison For Inmate Indicted UPDATE: A corrections officer who was charged with collecting up to $500 a month in bribes to smuggle cold cuts, espresso, jewelry and cologne into a New Jersey prison for a convict known as “Tommy Two Times” is now under indictment. Werner Gramajo, a 46-year-old senior correctional officer at Northern State Prison in Newark, admitted only to delivering the pressed meats -- and not any of the other items -- after he was caught, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. Gramajo, of Newark, also claimed that he wasn’t paid for it, Platkin said in announcing the indictment on Wednes…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ex-Con With History Stretching Nearly 40 Years Nabbed In Garfield Nail Salon Break-In Ex-Con With History Stretching Nearly 40 Years Nabbed In Garfield Nail Salon Break-In
Ex-Con With History Stretching Nearly 40 Years Nabbed In Garfield Nail Salon Break-In The phrase "known to police" is an understatement when it comes to Brian Patrick Barone. Barone, 57, of Garfield has a criminal history that dates all the way to 1986, when he was charged with DWI after ramming his car into a utility pole in Washington Township. He also escaped from Northern State Prison in Newark in November 2001 and remained on the lam more than two months, burglarizing a dry cleaner and laundry and stealing a car in Elmwood Park before Paramus police captured him on the roof of what was then the Red Carpet Inn on Route 17. Barone has been arrested dozens of times in var…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Registered Sex Offender From Passaic County Exposed Himself, Rubbed Against Women: Authorities Registered Sex Offender From Passaic County Exposed Himself, Rubbed Against Women: Authorities
Registered Sex Offender From Passaic County Exposed Himself, Rubbed Against Women: Authorities A registered sex offender from Passaic County who was released from custody just months ago was busted again -- this time for taking out his penis and rubbing it against no fewer than three random females, authorities said. Rolphy Capellan, 29, most recently from Clifton, was convicted in July 2015 of following a woman into a store and exposing himself to her and a 2-year-old child. He has been in and out of prison, jail and sex offender treatment facilities several times since then, according to state records. Capellan most recently was paroled from Northern State Prison in Newark in Augu…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
UPDATE: NJ Admits Errors, Clears Correctional Officer Over Motorcycle Gang Membership, Side Gig UPDATE: NJ Admits Errors, Clears Correctional Officer Over Motorcycle Gang Membership, Side Gig
Update: NJ Admits Errors, Clears Correctional Officer Over Motorcycle Gang Membership, Side Gig New Jersey authorities have dropped a case against a correctional police officer who'd been accused of hiding his membership in two outlaw motorcycle gangs. Ruben Morales, who worked at the state prison in Newark, had also been accused of hiding a food truck business he worked on the side. All of the accusations were recently nullified, however, with the dismissal of a state indictment that had been filed against him. Morales, a correctional officer for nearly 20 years, had publicly professed his innocence since the announcement of the indictment in early 2021. Things finally changed last…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Essex Corrections Officer Helped Inmate Smuggle Tobacco: Prosecutor Essex Corrections Officer Helped Inmate Smuggle Tobacco: Prosecutor
Essex Corrections Officer Helped Inmate Smuggle Tobacco: Prosecutor A corrections police officer in Essex County helped an inmate smuggle tobacco into prison, authorities said. Christopher Smoaks, a senior correctional police officer at Northern State Prison in Newark, has been arrested and charged with bribery in official matters and conspiracy, according to Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II Smoaks, 31, of Jersey City, allegedly received payment from an inmate’s relative in return for smuggling suspected tobacco to the inmate on Oct. 16, Stephens said.  He was arrested inside the prison the following day after investigators …

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by Jon Craig
News
Saddle Brook Officer Charged With DWI, Leaving Scene Of Late-Night Crash Saddle Brook Officer Charged With DWI, Leaving Scene Of Late-Night Crash
Saddle Brook Officer Charged With DWI, Leaving Scene Of Late-Night Crash An off-duty Saddle Brook police officer was drunk when he fled the scene of a utility pole crash a few blocks from his home, authorities charged. Attilio Dente Sr., 39, had to be separated from an unidentified person he was arguing with when township officers showed up at his home around 10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2, an accident report obtained by Daily Voice says. Moments earlier, a 2013 Chevy Avalanche driven by the five-year department veteran struck a utility pole outside a home on Market Street between Miller and Coger streets, up the block from the local 7-Eleven and the Wine Country liquo…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Police: Just-Released Convict From Passaic Nabbed With Gun, Heroin For Sale, Torches Cell Police: Just-Released Convict From Passaic Nabbed With Gun, Heroin For Sale, Torches Cell
Police: Just-Released Convict From Passaic Nabbed With Gun, Heroin For Sale, Torches Cell Adonis Reyes had been free all of six weeks after serving 2½ years in state prison for a gun conviction when Passaic police investigating a shooting caught him with a loaded handgun and 265 heroin folds this past weekend, authorities said. Not only that: Reyes, 28, set fire to the holding cell at Passaic police headquarters and assaulted a city officer and EMT who tried to help him, they said. Police responding to a report of shots fired in the area of Main Avenue and Washington Place found Reyes in the passenger seat of a nearby motor vehicle shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, April 24, investi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Career Criminal From Connecticut, 73, Admits Committing Murder-For-Hire Of Jersey City Politico Career Criminal From Connecticut, 73, Admits Committing Murder-For-Hire Of Jersey City Politico
Career Criminal From Connecticut, 73, Admits Committing Murder-For-Hire Of Jersey City Politico A hardened ex-con from Connecticut admitted that he and a longtime criminal pal from Philadelphia stabbed a political consultant to death and then torched his Jersey City apartment in a murder-for-hire attack. George Bratsenis, 73, of Monroe, CT said he and his partner were paid to whack Michael Galdieri, the son of former State Sen. James Galdieri (D-Jersey City) and a prominent figure in local Hudson County politics. Bratsenis and the other killer, Bomani Africa, 61, were hired by onetime political operative Sean Caddle, who’d been an aide to former State Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Elizabeth) a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
West New York Killer Brutally Beat Inmate For Latin Kings 'Hit Squad,' Indictment Charges West New York Killer Brutally Beat Inmate For Latin Kings 'Hit Squad,' Indictment Charges
West New York Killer Brutally Beat Inmate For Latin Kings 'Hit Squad,' Indictment Charges A convicted killer from West New York sent a fellow inmate to the hospital with a severe head injury as part of a deal with a prison "hit squad" run by a Latin Kings leader, authorities said. Daniel Balbuena, 29, carried out the beating in exchange for an assault on a rival of the Gran Familiar Mexicana gang by hit squad members, an indictment returned by a grand jury in Trenton alleges. Authorities last year charged Frank “Lafay” Blake of Hillside and several other current and former shank-armed inmates with an assault at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, as well as with plans to carry …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Indictment: Latin Kingpin,10 Gang Members In NJ Prison ‘Hit Squad’ Targeted State Investigators Indictment: Latin Kingpin,10 Gang Members In NJ Prison ‘Hit Squad’ Targeted State Investigators
Indictment: Latin Kingpin,10 Gang Members In NJ Prison ‘Hit Squad’ Targeted State Investigators UPDATE: Members of a state prison “hit squad” who were already charged with beating a fellow inmate also attacked others while targeting investigators who got wise to them, an indictment returned by a New Jersey grand jury alleges. State prosecutors earlier this year charged Frank “Lafay” Blake, 33, of Hillside and eight inmates with an assault at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, as well as with plans to carry out another at Northern State Prison in Newark. An indictment returned in Trenton this week adds new assault charges against Blake -- the reputed leader of the Elizabeth chapter of…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ: State Prison ‘Hit Squad’ Run By Latin King Targeted Inmates, Corrections Investigators NJ: State Prison ‘Hit Squad’ Run By Latin King Targeted Inmates, Corrections Investigators
NJ: State Prison ‘Hit Squad’ Run By Latin King Targeted Inmates, Corrections Investigators Members of a state prison hit squad assembled by a Latin Kings leader beat one fellow inmate and were about to attack another when corrections officials got wind of their plans, New Jersey's top law enforcement officer said Thursday. Working from the outside, Frank “Lafay” Blake, 33, of Hillside recruited eight inmates for his shank-armed crew at various correctional facilities, including Northern State Prison in Newark and New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Blake, the reputed leader of the Elizabeth chapter of the Almighty Latin King and Queen…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Female NJ Correctional Officer Had Sex For Year With State Prison Inmate, Authorities Charge Female NJ Correctional Officer Had Sex For Year With State Prison Inmate, Authorities Charge
Female NJ Correctional Officer Had Sex For Year With State Prison Inmate, Authorities Charge A senior correctional police officer at Northern State Prison in Newark was charged with having sex with an inmate, authorities said Tuesday. Tasheena Majors, 42, of Newark, had been having intercourse beginning in November of last year with the male inmate "over whom she had supervisory or disciplinary power" before she was recently caught, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. An investigation by the New Jersey Department of Corrections Special Investigations Division and the Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) produced charges of sexual assault…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Authorities Discover State Prison Correctional Police Officer Belonged To Outlaw Biker Gang NJ Authorities Discover State Prison Correctional Police Officer Belonged To Outlaw Biker Gang
NJ Authorities Discover State Prison Correctional Police Officer Belonged To Outlaw Biker Gang A correctional police officer at the state prison in Newark was also a member of two outlaw motorcycle gangs, said authorities who charged him with lying about it to keep his job. Ruben Morales, 41, of Orange, lied about being in the “Thug Riders” and “Thunderguards” when he applied to renew his state-issued identification card last year, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Tuesday. “The card identifies him as a law enforcement officer, grants him access to state buildings, and marks him as an emergency responder,” Grewal said. “The renewal process requires the completion, ce…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Obituaries
'Never A Dull Moment': Colleagues Mourn NJ Corrections Officer Who Died Of Coronavirus 'Never A Dull Moment': Colleagues Mourn NJ Corrections Officer Who Died Of Coronavirus
'Never A Dull Moment': Colleagues Mourn NJ Corrections Officer Who Died Of Coronavirus A 47-year-old Burlington County corrections officer died of coronavirus complications Tuesday.  Maria Gibbs, a senior corrections police officer, died of cardiac and kidney issues related to the virus, officials said. She was the third corrections officer in New Jersey to have died of COVID-19. Her husband reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 but has not developed any symptoms. Gibbs, formerly of Newark, posted a watermarked photo to Facebook that says: "I can't stay home. I'm a correctional officer." She was a 19-year veteran who worked at the state’s central reception and a…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Correctional Officer From Union Gets 4 Years For Smuggling Fentanyl Into Prison For Cash Correctional Officer From Union Gets 4 Years For Smuggling Fentanyl Into Prison For Cash
Correctional Officer From Union Gets 4 Years For Smuggling Fentanyl Into Prison For Cash A former senior correctional police officer at Northern State Prison in Newark was sentenced to four years behind bars Friday for smuggling fentanyl and marijuana to an inmate. Roberto Reyes-Jackson, 31, Irvington, smuggled “multiple single-dose wax folds of a powder compound laced with fentanyl to inmate Aaron Copeland” between September and December 2016, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. He also smuggled a small amount of marijuana to Copeland, Grewal said. In exchange, Reyes-Jackson was paid hundreds of dollars by Copeland’s girlfriend, Tyeesha Powell, the attorney general …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Off-Duty Corrections Officer Arrested In Newark Stabbing That Left Victim Critical Off-Duty Corrections Officer Arrested In Newark Stabbing That Left Victim Critical
Off-Duty Corrections Officer Arrested In Newark Stabbing That Left Victim Critical A 34-year-old state corrections officer was arrested in connection with stabbing that left another woman in critical condition, authorities said. Miesha Robinson was off-duty from her job at the Northern State Prison when police responded to Leslie Street near Chancellor Avenue around 1:30 p.m. last Saturday, on reports of a stabbing, Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose said. Robinson threatened the victim's life and stabbed her during an argument, Ambrose said. The victim remains in critical condition at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, authorities said. Robinson was …

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Correctional Officer From Irvington Admits Smuggling Drugs To Inmate Correctional Officer From Irvington Admits Smuggling Drugs To Inmate
Correctional Officer From Irvington Admits Smuggling Drugs To Inmate A suspended correctional officer at Newark's Northern State Prison admitted he smuggled marijuana and fentanyl to an inmate in exchange for cash, Attorney General Gurbrir S. Grewal said Thursday. Roberto Reyes-Jackson, 30, of Irvington, faces four years in prison when he's sentenced in February 2020. As part of his plea, Reyes-Jackson will forfeit his job and will be permanently ineligible for public employment. Investigators say that from September to December 2016, Reyes-Jackson delivered a powder laced with fentanyl to an inmate named Aaron Copeland. After staff discovered marijuana a…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Newark Man Charged With Manslaughter In Crash That Killed Correctional Officer Newark Man Charged With Manslaughter In Crash That Killed Correctional Officer
Newark Man Charged With Manslaughter In Crash That Killed Correctional Officer A 24-year-old Newark man has been charged with aggravated manslaughter for causing a fatal crash Saturday while fleeing from police, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said.  Police in Hillside attempted to pull over a Nissan Altima driven by Dashawn Walton around 2:30 a.m. According to authorities, Walton fled the wrong way down Aldine Street and into Newark. He crashed into a Ford Mustang at Bragaw Avenue, pushing it into a light pole, according to authorities.  Omar Martin, who was in the Mustang and was not involved in the pursuit, was killed. The 49-year-old Newark resident…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Ex-Corrections Officer From Elizabeth Who Had Sex With Inmate Gets Probation Ex-Corrections Officer From Elizabeth Who Had Sex With Inmate Gets Probation
Ex-Corrections Officer From Elizabeth Who Had Sex With Inmate Gets Probation A former corrections officer at Northern State Prison in Newark was sentenced to three years' probation after admitting she had a sexual relationship with an inmate, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said Friday.  In addition, Avril. D. Richardson, 46, forfeited her job and will be barred from future public employment.  Richardson, an Elizabeth resident, was arrested following an investigation that revealed she had started the relationship in 2016 and that it continued until her arrest in December. Richardson, who was assigned to the unnamed inmate's housing unit, maintained th…

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by Paul Milo
Lifestyle
GoFundMe Started For Correctional Police Officer Killed In Newark Crash GoFundMe Started For Correctional Police Officer Killed In Newark Crash
GoFundMe Started For Correctional Police Officer Killed In Newark Crash A GoFundMe campaign has been launched on behalf of the family of Omar Martin, a Correctional Police Officer at Northern State Prison in Newark who was killed early Saturday when authorities said a fleeing criminal suspect slammed into his car.  The chase began in Hillside and ended when the car hit Martin's Mustang at Aldine Street and Bragaw Avenue in Newark. He was pronounced dead at the scene.  The three suspects in the car were all caught, according to the state Attorney General, which is investigating the incident.  Colleagues, friends and family mourned "Marty Mar" and…

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by Paul Milo
News
5 Things To Know Going Into The Week In North Jersey (Tunnel Project, VMAs & More) 5 Things To Know Going Into The Week In North Jersey (Tunnel Project, VMAs & More)
5 Things To Know Going Into The Week In North Jersey (Tunnel Project, VMAs & More) Here's what you need to know going into the week in North Jersey (Aug. 25 edition). A new NY/NJ rail tunnel plan has cut $1.5 billion off the estimated Hudson River tunnel project cost (New York Times). The plan -- announced Friday -- reduces the cost from $11 billion to $9.5 billion and would include repairs to the existing tunnel under the Hudson River (damaged in Superstorm Sandy) and could help lessen delays. Officials are now seeking $5.4 billion from a federal grant program instead of $6.8 billion. THE VMAs are coming to Newark. And traffic is expected to be a nightmare (but what…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Newark Man Charged In Death Of Correctional Officer UPDATE: Newark Man Charged In Death Of Correctional Officer
Update: Newark Man Charged In Death Of Correctional Officer UPDATE, Aug. 30: A Newark man faces manslaughter and other charges in connection with the officer's death. Click here for more.  UPDATE: A GoFundMe campaign has been started on behalf of Omar Martin's family. Click here for more.  Original story below:  The Attorney General's Office is investigating after a car fleeing from police during a pursuit crashed into another vehicle in Newark early Saturday, killing one person.  NJ PBA Local 105 identified the victim as Omar Martin, a correctional police officer* at Northern State Prison.  According to a preliminary investigation, a Hillside p…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Fit Cops: Custodian To Corrections, Emerson Officer Lands On His Feet Fit Cops: Custodian To Corrections, Emerson Officer Lands On His Feet
Fit Cops: Custodian To Corrections, Emerson Officer Lands On His Feet EMERSON, N.J. -- Tyler Monroy of Emerson was 22 years old with a bright future ahead of him in 2014. At the time, that wasn't how it felt. His days were dark and dragging. He was balancing a trio of dead-end jobs and spent his days cleaning high school bathrooms, busing food and working security at a mall. Monroy's only glimmer of hope was the possibility that one day, he'd hear back from the New Jersey Corrections Department on his application. Going to the gym and listening to motivational speeches he found online were Monroy's lifelines at the time. But now that he's landed on his fee…

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by Cecilia Levine