A Mercer County grand jury returned an indictment on Tuesday charging a state corrections officer and his accomplice with accepting bribes to smuggle contraband into New Jersey State Prison, Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri reported.
According to officials, the three-count indictment charges Correction Officers Jamaine Russell, 27, of Deptford, and Debra Rayner, 34, of Mullica Hill, with one count each of second-degree official misconduct, second-degree bribery and third-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity.
The indictment alleges that Russell, an NJDOC employee since 2016, used his position to receive cash payments in exchange for bringing narcotics and other contraband into New Jersey State Prison in Trenton from October 2018 through November 2019.
The indictment alleges that Russell, an NJDOC employee since 2016, used his position to receive cash payments in exchange for bringing narcotics and other contraband into New Jersey State Prison in Trenton from October 2018 through November 2019.
Officials report that Rayner was indicted as an accomplice to Russell’s illegal acts, and while she herself is not an employee of NJDOC, she is legally accountable for Russell’s conduct because she promoted and facilitated the commission of the crimes charged.
Russell and Rayner were charged in November 2019 following an investigation by the New Jersey Department of Corrections Special Investigations Division. Assistant Prosecutor Rachel Cook, chief of the Economic Crime Unit, presented the case to the grand jury.
Despite having been indicted, every defendant is presumed innocent until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.