A former Monmouth County Correctional Institution officer has been sentenced to five years in state prison for smuggling drugs into the jail where he worked.
According to Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago, Bryant Mack, 55, of Shamong, in Burlington County, -- a former corrections officer who had served for 18 years -- was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to smuggling drugs and other contraband into the prison.
Last year, Mack pleaded guilty after an investigation found that he would smuggle drugs and other items into the facility hidden in potato-chip bags.
He would then provide the items to an inmate, who would then facilitate the distribution of the items throughout the jail, investigators said on Saturday.
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Law enforcement officials said the scheme came to light in September of 2021, after officers caught two inmates with synthetic marijuana and other contraband in their cells.
During a plea hearing held in November 2022, Mack admitted that he entered into an agreement with an inmate to smuggle synthetic marijuana into the jail in exchange for payment, pleading guilty to a charge of second-degree conspiracy to distribute a controlled dangerous substance.
