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A Mercer County grand jury returned an indictment on Tuesday charging a state corrections officer and another suspect with accepting bribes to smuggle drugs and other contraband, Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri said.
The three-count indictment charges Correction Officer Jamaine Russell, 27, of Deptford, and Debra Rayner, 34, of Mullica Hill, with second-degree official misconduct, second-degree bribery and third-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity, according to Onofri.
The indictment alleges that Russell, a state corrections officer since 2016, used his position to take cash in exchange for bringing drugs and other contraband into New Jersey State Prison in Trenton from October 2018 through November 2019, the prosecutor said.
Rayner was indicted as an accomplice to Russell’s illegal acts, Onofri said, and although she herself is not an employee of the state prison, she "is legally accountable for Russell’s conduct because she promoted and facilitated the commission of the crimes charged," Onofri said.
The prosecutor did not elaborate on Rayner's role in the alleged crimes.
Assistant Mercer County Prosecutor Rachel Cook presented the case to the grand jury.
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