37°
Joseph J. Jennings, 33, of Warminster, entered guilty pleas to contraband and criminal conspiracy on Wednesday, according to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office.
He was among nine men charged in June 2020 with the scheme to smuggle Suboxone strips into the jail to distribute among inmates, authorities said.
Investigators found that Jennings smuggled Suboxone into the jail on multiple occasions between October 2018 and July 2019 while employed as a guard assigned to the restrictive housing unit at the jail in Doylestown, the DA's office said.
Jennings gave the drugs to an inmate, Vincent McCandless Sr., 36, who then distributed them to other inmates in the jail, according to investigators.
Jennings got the Suboxone from Joseph R. Wilson, 41, of Philadelphia, and McCandless’s juvenile son, authorities said.
Inmates paid for the drugs by asking family members to wire money to Wilson or depositing money in McCandless' prison commissary account, authorities said.
“This drug organization would not have been discovered but for the diligent Investigators at the prison,” Deputy District Attorney Mary Kate Kohler said.
“They worked tirelessly alongside Bucks County Detectives to uncover its enormous scope and the root of the problem – a dirty guard. Law Enforcement in this County will not tolerate a ‘bad apple’ amongst their ranks.
McCandless Sr. pleaded guilty to contraband and criminal conspiracy in April and received a sentence of 35 to 70 months in state prison to be served after completing the sentence that landed him in prison, the DA's office said.
McCandless Sr. was serving four and a half to 10 years in state prison at the time of his arrest, authorities said.
Wilson pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced in December, while McCandless' juvenile son was adjudicated delinquent earlier this year, according to investigators.
Others who have entered guilty pleas are:
Travis Davies, 33 of Levittown, Joseph Korhan, 48, of Woodstown, N.J., Robert Monacelli, 29, of Falls Township, Richard Dzielinski, 42, of Philadelphia.
A ninth person, Jonathan King, 32, of Wilkes Barre, is awaiting his day in court, authorities said.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Allentown and receive free news updates.
