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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 said.
“Copeland, in turn, distributed the drugs to other inmates, who paid him by having friends or relatives outside the prison wire money to Powell,” he said.
The discovery of pot and fentanyl in Copeland’s cell eventually led to the officer, Grewal said.
“By agreeing to smuggle fentanyl to an inmate in Northern State Prison, Reyes-Jackson put lives at risk,” Grewal said.
“Fentanyl is so potent that minute amounts can result in overdose and death,” he explained.
Friday’s sentence “holds Reyes-Jackson accountable for betraying his duty and callously disregarding the safety and welfare of his fellow officers, as well as inmates in the prison,” the attorney general said.
Copeland, 31, of Newark, is facing a three-year prison sentence to follow his current term after pleading guilty to distributing fentanyl.
Powell, 34, of Pleasantville, also pleaded guilty to the same charge in exchange for a recommended sentence of probation.
Reyes-Jackson pleaded guilty last October to conspiring to commit official misconduct. He forfeited his job as a result of his guilty plea and is permanently barred from public employment in New Jersey.
Deputy Attorney General Samantha McCluskey prosecuted the case and handled the sentencing for the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) after former Deputy Attorney General Peter Baker presented the case to a state grand jury that indicted Reyes-Jackson.
Grewal commended all of the investigators, detectives and attorneys who conducted the investigation for the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability and the Department of Corrections Special Investigations Division. Senior Investigator Patrick Sesulka and Deputy Chief Investigator Edward Soltys conducted the investigation for the Department of Corrections.
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