Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office

                                 25 Kirkpatrick Street, 3rd Floor, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901 (732) 745-3300

 

                                *News Release*           Date: April 12, 2010

 
 

       

 

 

 

 

 

Officer admits smuggling cell phones to prison inmate

 

 

          Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan announced that a corrections officer at East Jersey State Prison pleaded guilty today to supplying cell phones to an inmate.

 

          Glenn Adams, (DOB 10/9/60) of 163 Laurel Ave., Union, N.J. admitted a single count of selling or transferring an electronic communications device to a person confined in a correctional facility on two occasions between November 1, 2008, and January 31, 2009.

 

          Adams pleaded guilty under the statue, which is aimed at keeping cell phones out of the hands of prisoners. The law, which took effect in August 2007, imposes severe penalties on state and county corrections officials who sell, transfer or give cell phones to prisoners.

 

Adams waived his right to a presentation of the case to a grand jury in Middlesex County and pleaded guilty during a hearing at the Middlesex County Courthouse in New Brunswick before Superior Court Judge Frederick P. DeVesa.

 

Adams entered the guilty plea following negotiations with Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Brian D. Gillet.

 

Under the plea agreement, Adams faces a three-year prison term when he is sentenced June 7 by Judge DeVesa. Adams also will be required to resign his job and will never again be allowed to hold a public position.

 

Adams was arrested August 6, 2009, in Woodbridge and was charged following an investigation by the Special Investigations Division of the New Jersey Department of Corrections and the Middlesex County Gang, Guns and Drugs Task Force, which is run by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

 

The investigation began in January 2009, when members of the Special Investigations Division determined that an inmate at the prison, located in the Avenel section of Woodbridge, possessed two cell phone chargers and an earpiece.

 

Further investigation showed Adams obtained the cell phones and other electronic equipment from associates of a street gang, the Almighty Latin Kings and Queen Nation, and smuggled the items into the prison.

 

In exchange, Adams received cash payments from the associates during subsequent meetings in Newark.

 

East Jersey State Prison Principal Investigator Ted Pena led the investigation, and was assisted by his staff: Senior Investigators Chris Birardi, Dave Calderon, Kevin Koch, Hyronda Strickland, Terrance Smith and Carlos Negron.

 

Also working on the case were Investigator Rodney Blount, Investigator Butch Villegas and Investigator Joseph Celentano, all of the Middlesex County Gang, Guns and Drugs Task Force.

 

Following his arrest, Adams, a corrections officer since July 26, 2002, was suspended from his job without pay. He had been earning $66,785 annually.

 

He remains free on $50,000 bail pending sentencing.