FREEHOLD, NJ – A former officer at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution (MCCI), Bryant Mack, 55, of Shamong, Burlington County, has been handed a five-year prison sentence. The sentencing was announced by Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago on Saturday, following Mack’s guilty plea to a charge of second-degree Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Dangerous Substance (CDS).
The investigation revealed that Mack, during his 18-year tenure as a corrections officer, would smuggle drugs and other items into the facility, hiding them in potato-chip bags. These items were then given to an inmate for further distribution throughout the jail. The scheme was first discovered on Saturday, September 4, 2021, when officers found two inmates in possession of synthetic marijuana and other contraband in their cells.
During a plea hearing in November 2022, Mack confessed to striking a deal with an inmate to smuggle synthetic marijuana into the jail for payment. As a result, Judge O’Malley ordered Mack to forfeit his job at MCCI and barred him from ever holding public office in the State of New Jersey.