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.

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This is another example of the corrosive effects of the demand for contraband prison cell phones. A secure prison cell phone service would eliminate a great deal of the demand for contraband cell phones and allow prisoners to keep in contact with family members, while offering a new source of revenue for prisons.

Luis Roman spent 18 years as a corrections officer, but now he could spend 14 years on the other side of the bars for sneaking cell phones and drugs to inmates.

Roman pleaded guilty today to racketeering and official misconduct charges for running a smuggling network at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenel and then at Northern State Prison in Newark.

“This wasn’t a single cell phone,” Department of Corrections Commissioner Gary Lanigan said. “This was a criminal enterprise.”

State officials said they will seek a 14-year prison term with five years of parole ineligibility at sentencing on Oct. 3.

Authorities said Roman, who has been free on $100,000 bail and appeared in court wearing an open-collared black shirt, made thousands of dollars in an operation involving 35 other people.

“As he participated in this elaborate smuggling enterprise, Luis Roman demonstrated how much he had in common with the criminal inmates he was supposed to be guarding,” Attorney General Paula Dow said in a statement. “With this plea, he will officially join their ranks.”

After the plea hearing, Roman’s attorney, Ruben Scolavino, said his client “has taken full responsibility for his actions. He’s happy to get this behind him.”

Authorities said Roman smuggled prepaid phones, cocaine, heroin and marijuana into prison several times a week, hiding the items in his protective vest and boots.

Corrections has since taken steps to make it harder for smugglers, Lanigan said. Within months, he said, officers at Northern State Prison will test new protective vests to be worn over shirts. These will be easier to remove and scan before officers enter the prison, he said.

“We are very serious about stopping the flow of cell phones,” Lanigan said.

Investigators from the Department of Corrections began suspecting a corrections officer, or other prison worker after phones of the same makes and models were confiscated from inmates. Working with the State Police, they eventually targeted Roman, who was arrested Nov. 14, 2009.

Officials said inmates’ relatives and friends were accomplices, buying the phones and drugs and packaging them for delivery. Inmates wired money to Ann Marie Roman, 37, of Woodbridge, who is now Roman’s ex-wife. She pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy to commit bribery, admitting that, at her husband’s direction, she received thousands of dollars through Western Union and MoneyGram as payment for smuggled items.

Besides Roman, 18 other people were charged with racketeering. Five have pleaded guilty, said Paul Loriquet, spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office.

Sixteen inmates were accused of buying phones. Eight have pleaded guilty.

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