CO, accomplice smuggled drugs into Prison
TRENTON » A corrections police officer is accused of smuggling drugs into New Jersey State Prison for an inmate serving life plus 15 years for leading a South Jersey drug trafficking organization, records show.
Jamaine Russell, 37, of Mullica Hill, is accused of accepting bribes to smuggle drugs in for notorious felon Gary Maddox, 44, of Washington Township.
Debra Rayner, 34, of Deptford, one of Maddox’s associates, provided the drugs to the allegedly corrupt CO and paid him off, according to criminal complaints.
Russell and accused accomplice Rayner were indicted Tuesday on counts of official misconduct and bribery, both second degree, and third-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
The charged drug-smuggling duo was initially charged by summons in November after investigators from the Department of Corrections’ special investigation unit conducted an investigation, the prosecutor’s office said.
The NJDOC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Rayner does not work for NJDOC but was indicted as an accomplice because she “promoted and facilitated” the crimes the two are charged with.
Authorities contend that the CO Russell took advantage of his position at the prison and worked in tandem with Rayner to smuggle drugs and other contraband into the prison in exchange for bribes going as far back as October 2018.
Russell allegedly structured the financial transactions in a way that cloaked that they were illicit, according to court records.
Prosecutors did not say howmuch the CO, who has worked at the capital city prison since 2016, allegedly accepted in bribes.
Armed with search warrants, investigators tossed Russell’s and Rayner’s homes and found evidence such as drugs, inmate letters with details of the alleged conspiracy and drugpackaging materials, according to the criminal complaints.
Rayner admitted paying Russell bribes so that he would smuggle the contraband to Maddox, records show.
Assistant prosecutor Rachel Cook, the head of the economic crimes unit, presented the case to the grand jury leading to the indictment against the CO and the accomplice Rayner.
It was unclear whether Maddox has also been charged for his alleged role in the drug-smuggling scheme.
Maddox apparently hasn’t curtailed his weight pushing ways while serving time.
He has been locked up at New Jersey State Prison since he was convicted at trial of eight drug-related counts, including racketeering and being the leader of a narcotics trafficking network, both firstdegree felonies.
Maddox inspired the name of the drug investigation — Operation Centerfield — for authorities who took down the drug ring in 2007, arresting 13 people, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Jailbird Maddox, unrelated, has almost the exact same name as former Phillies outfielder Garry Maddox, who played for the club from1972 through 1986, the outlet reported.
Maddox and Jason E. McKinnon of Atco were convicted at trial of leading the drug trafficking network that had a supplier as far away as Tucson, Arizona, according to court records.
The traffickers peddled cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine and prescription pills, prosecutors said.
A couple years ago, the convicts pleaded for leniency in a Change.org petition to Gov. Phil Murphy that garnered more than 1,100 signatures.
“WE NEED TO BE HEARD. NO ONE IS SPEAKING ON OUR BEHALF. WE TO HAVE FAMILIES THAT ARE GROWING OLD AND MISS US AND WE MORE FOR THEM. PLEASE HELP US,” they said.
Maddox has sought postconviction relief since he’s ineligible for parole until January 2037, state records show.
While an appeals court called the evidence against Maddox “overwhelming,” it remanded his PCR for the limited purpose of conducting an “evidentiary hearing” to determine whether Maddox’s lawyer was ineffective for not calling three witnesses who would have claimed they did not work under Maddox but independently sold drugs.