His replacement will have big shoes to fill…

TWO Leytonstone men have been convicted of plotting to smuggle drugs and mobile phones into a prison.

Pentonville inmate Desmond Brown, 26, formerly of Montague Road, and his friend on the outside, Calvin Chance, 26, of Birch Grove, conspired with a corrupt solicitor to avoid detection.

They were also helped by Brown’s 24-year-old girlfriend Danielle Porter, of Barking, and another prisoner, David Sterling.

It is thought the group made nearly £20,000 dealing the items on the prison black market.

Blackfriars Crown Court heard how the plot was uncovered when solicitor Ritesh Brahmbhatt, 30, was searched during a visit to Sterling in September 2009.

He aroused suspicion when he was spotted wearing shoes which were several sizes too big for him.

Prison guards then discovered his footwear stuffed with of cannabis, mephedrone, and mobile phone parts. Drugs were also found in his trousers.

Similar items had previously been discovered during searches of Brown’s cells.

Brahmbhatt claimed he had been threatened at gunpoint a few days before by a man who demanded he smuggle the items.

But Islington Police uncovered a series of incriminating text messages and financial transactions linking Brahmbhatt with the prisoners.

A further link was established when Porter’s DNA was found on a mobile phone recovered during a search of the solicitor’s prison locker.

Brahmbhatt was again arrested while on bail when he was caught with a mobile phone during a visit to a prisoner in Winchester, Hampshire, in February this year.

The solicitor, of Wanstead Park Road in Redbridge, was the only one of the group to plead guilty to charges of conspiracy to smuggle items into a prison.

Detective Sergeant Simon Lowe said: “I thank the jury for their careful consideration and I hope that these verdicts act as a deterrent to others considering committing crimes like this.”

Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) lawyer Robert Hutchinson, said: “A painstaking investigation by police and a robust prosecution by the CPS meant that Brahmbhatt was today convicted alongside the very same individuals he once represented.”

All five have been remanded in custody and will be sentenced later this year at a date not set.

Source

The post Prison Lawyer Smuggled Cell Phones In Shoes appeared first on meshDETECT® Blog.

This article shows what a business operation the smuggling of cell phones into prison has become. Contraband cell phones have become as desired as drugs in prisons and jails. The contraband value of these smuggled cell phones can be reduced by providing an alternative, prison sanctioned, secure cell phone service.

Luis S. Roman, 48, of Avenel, was sentenced to five years in state prison without possibility of parole by Superior Court Judge Bradley J. Ferencz in Middlesex County. He pleaded guilty to official misconduct, admitting that he smuggled cell phones and drugs into the prison for a network of inmates who solicited customers and distributed the contraband. He smuggled contraband into the prison several times a week, including pre-paid cell phones, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, hiding the items in his protective vest and boots.

Quadir Barnes, an inmate at Northern State Prison in Newark, pleaded guilty Monday to being a member of a network that smuggled pre-paid cell phones and drugs into the prison.

His sister and two inmates who were customers also pleaded guilty Monday.

Barnes, 32, pleaded guilty to a second-degree charge of racketeering before state Superior Court Judge Mathias E. Rodriguez in New Brunswick, state Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor said.

Under a plea agreement, the state will recommend that he be sentenced to six years in state prison, with the sentence to run consecutive to his current sentence.

In pleading guilty, Barnes admitted that he was part of a network of inmates who solicited customers and distributed cell phones and narcotics that were smuggled into the prison by a former corrections officer, Luis S. Roman, 47, of Woodbridge. Roman pleaded guilty on April 18 to charges of racketeering and official misconduct. The state will recommend he be sentenced to 14 years in state prison, including five years of parole ineligibility.

Barnes, Roman and 17 other people who allegedly distributed contraband in the prison or acted as accomplices outside the prison were charged with racketeering and conspiracy in a state grand jury indictment obtained by the Division of Criminal Justice on Sept. 15. Separate indictments obtained that month charged 16 inmates who bought contraband.

The investigation revealed that Roman smuggled contraband into the prison several times a week, including pre-paid cell phones, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, hiding the items in his protective vest and boots. The inmates who acted as distributors had family members or friends outside the prison who allegedly acted as accomplices by buying phones and drugs and packaging them for delivery to Roman. The investigation revealed that inmates paid for the items by having money wired to Roman’s wife or another accomplice on the outside.

The state Department of Corrections Special Investigations Division began looking into the possibility of a correction officer or other prison worker smuggling contraband into Northern State after numerous wireless phones of the same makes and models were confiscated from inmates.

A joint investigation by the State Police and the Corrections Department began in July 2009. Roman’s smuggling continued from at least August 2007 to Nov. 14, 2009, when he was arrested with his wife. Ann Marie Roman, 36, of Woodbridge, who now is divorced from Luis Roman, pleaded guilty on Sept. 14 to second-degree conspiracy to commit bribery. She admitted that, at her husband’s direction, she received thousands of dollars through Western Union and Money Gram as payment for smuggled items.

Roman allegedly used two trusted inmates at Northern State as his organizers or middle men. The inmates, Angel Vasquez, 53, and Willie Wade, 46, in turn allegedly employed numerous other inmates, including Barnes, as distributors to canvass the prison for customers. The customers agreed to pay a fee for the contraband. For example, if an inmate wanted a pre-paid cell phone, he would have to pay up to $400, plus an additional $200 as a “shipment fee.”

At each level of the organization, middle-men and distributors received a certain amount of money. Once the contraband was smuggled in, Roman allegedly would pass it along to his middle men, who would give it to the distributor inmates, frequently kitchen and laundry workers, who would distribute the contraband throughout the prison. The indictments are merely accusations and the remaining defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Source

The post Inmate Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Cell Phones appeared first on meshDETECT® Blog.