By: Tracie Carter
A correctional officer from Passaic County has pleaded guilty to charges related to the assault of a handcuffed inmate and a subsequent conspiracy to obstruct a federal investigation, according to information released by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Donald Vinales, 39, a sergeant at the Passaic County Jail, entered his guilty plea on May 21, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Michael E. Farbiarz in Newark federal court.
He admitted to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Federal authorities said the incident began on January 22, 2021, when a pretrial detainee at the jail squirted a substance believed to contain urine on an officer.
The next day, Vinales and two fellow officers — Sergeant Jose Gonzalez and Correctional Officer Lorenzo Bowden — took the detainee to a known surveillance “blind spot” in the jail, where Vinales and Gonzalez assaulted the restrained inmate by knocking him down and hitting him repeatedly.
The injuries were severe enough to require hospital treatment the following day. None of the involved officers filed the required use-of-force reports, authorities said.
Months later, in April 2022, the three officers met and agreed to conceal the incident from federal investigators.
Bowden later lied during a federal interview, falsely claiming that no assault had occurred and denying that a meeting to coordinate their story had taken place.
Officer Bowden pleaded guilty to obstruction charges in 2024 and is awaiting sentencing.
Vinales now faces up to 30 years in prison and $500,000 in fines. His sentencing is set for September 30, 2025.