Ex-Officer At Northern State Prison Sentenced For Drug Smuggling

NEWARK, NJ — A former senior correctional police officer at Northern State Prison in Newark was sentenced to prison Friday for smuggling fentanyl and marijuana to an inmate in the prison in exchange for money, authorities said.

Roberto Reyes-Jackson, 31, of Irvington was sentenced to four years in state prison by a Superior Court judge in Essex County, according to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General.

Reyes-Jackson pleaded guilty in October 2019 to conspiracy 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, prosecutors said.

Reyes-Jackson was indicted in 2017 in an investigation by Office of Public Integrity and Accountability and the Department of Corrections Special Investigations Division.

According to prosecutors:

“The state’s investigation revealed that between September and December 2016, Reyes-Jackson smuggled multiple single-dose wax folds of a powder compound laced with fentanyl to inmate Aaron Copeland. He also smuggled a small amount of marijuana to Copeland. The smuggling came to light in December 2016, when prison staff discovered a bag of marijuana in Copeland’s cell and two wax folds of fentanyl. A full search of the cell revealed additional marijuana and fentanyl. The investigation revealed that Reyes-Jackson accepted hundreds of dollars in bribes from Copeland’s girlfriend, Tyeesha Powell, to smuggle drugs into the prison. Copeland, in turn, distributed the drugs to other inmates, who paid him by having friends or relatives outside the prison wire money to Powell.”

Prosecutors said that Copeland, 31, of Newark, pleaded guilty previously to a charge of distribution of fentanyl and faces a recommended sentence of three years in prison, including one year of parole ineligibility, to run consecutive to the sentence he is currently serving.

Powell, 34, of Pleasantville, pleaded guilty previously to distribution of fentanyl and faces a recommended sentence of probation.

Copeland and Powell are awaiting sentencing, prosecutors said Friday.

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