City man gets 7-year in prison for smuggling marijuana and heroin into state prison
By Jonathan Greene
Published: March 28, 2014
A city man who smuggled heroin and marijuana to sell to inmates at a Kearny prison was sentenced to seven years in state prison on Friday, according to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.
Bobby Singletary, 55-year-old, a city resident, who worked as a correction officer in the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center, a state correctional facility for sex offenders, has been sentenced to seven years in prison with five years of parole ineligibility by Mitzy Galis-Menendez, a Hudson County superior court judge.
Galis-Menendez ordered Singletary to forfeit his entire pension and barred him from public employment in the state.
“The jury found by its verdict that between August 2007 and October 2010, Singletary conspired with the other defendants to acquire heroin and high-grade marijuana that he smuggled to residents inside the correction facility in Kearny,” said the attorney general’s office. “Singletary had the residents pay for the drugs by wiring money to co-conspirators outside the prison.”
On January 3rd, 2013, Singletary was indicted on charges. “The indictment stemmed from a joint investigation by the Department of Corrections Special Investigations Division and the Division of Criminal Justice,” said the attorney general’s office.
On September 26th, 2013, Singletary was found guilty of “official misconduct and bribery.” Authorities said five other defendants who plead guilty previously testified against Singletary.
“Working with the Department of Corrections, we will maintain maximum vigilance on this front and ensure that those who commit these crimes face stern punishment,” said Elie Honig, director of the state’s division of criminal justice. “Prison smuggling is a very serious crime that can compromise the security of correction facilities.”
“While the overwhelming majority of New Jersey Department of Corrections staff is hard-working and honest, it must be understood that there will be severe consequences for those few who would choose to follow the path of corruption,” said Gary Lanigan, commissioner of the state’s department of corrections.
“By smuggling drugs to inmates, Singletary betrayed his oath and compromised the safety of his fellow correction officers,” said John Hoffman, acting attorney general. “He demonstrated that he belongs on the other side of the prison bars.”