Former corrections officer smuggled fentanyl, marijuana into New Jersey prison in exchange for bribes

A former New Jersey corrections officer admitted to bringing drugs to a state prison inmate whose girlfriend had been paying the officer on the outside. 

Roberto Reyes-Jackson, 30, of Irvington, pleaded guilty on Thursday to one count of conspiracy to commit official misconduct, the state attorney general’s office said in a statement.

MORE NEWS: To re-elect Trump, Republicans campaigning for Amish votes in Pennsylvania

Reyes-Jackson had been officer at Northern State Prison in Newark when he smuggled wax folds of powder laced with fentanyl and a small bag of marijuana to inmate Aaron Copeland, 31, of Newark, between September and December 2016.

Copeland's girlfriend was paying Reyes-Jackson several hundred dollars in bribes, in exchange for the drugs. Copeland, in turn, then distributed the drugs to other inmates, who paid him by having friends or relatives outside the prison wire money back to his girlfriend, according to the attorney general's office.

The state will recommend Reyes-Jackson be sentenced to four years in state prison. His sentencing is scheduled for February 2020.