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A corrections officer at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark was sentenced to 18 months in prison Wednesday on charges he accepted bribes to smuggle cigarettes and other contraband into the jail.
(Star-Ledger file photo)
TRENTON — A corrections officer was sentenced to 18 months in prison today for helping run a scheme to smuggle marijuana, cell phones and other banned items into the Essex County Jail, authorities said.
Stephen Solomon, 27, accepted $4,000 in cash bribes in exchange for bringing the contraband into the Newark facility, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said in a statement.
He then delivered them to inmate Quasim Nichols, who was being held at the jail as he awaited a trial on federal carjacking charges.
Nichols then sold the phones, marijuana, tobacco and other items to fellow inmates, who paid by having friends and family send him Western Union money transfers.
Fellow inmates paid for the marijuana and cell phones by getting friends and family to send Western Union money transfers to Nichols.
Solomon was arrested in May 2014 along with several others, including an attorney and former Essex County assistant prosecutor, in connection with the scheme, which has said created a "contraband marketplace" within the walls of the Newark jail.
Solomon had pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiring to commit extortion under color of official right during a separate appearance in Trenton federal court in October.
He also agreed to forfeit the money he earned from the conspiracy as part of a plea deal with prosecutors, and will be subjected to three years of supervision following his release.
Two men, Darsell Davis and Dwayne Harper, who helped gather the banned items and deliver them to Solomon, were sentenced to prison terms earlier this week.
Nichols pleaded guilty to armed carjacking and conspiring with others to commit extortion under color of official right last month. He is scheduled to be sentenced in May.
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