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Northern State Prison

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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
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
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