TRENTON — A suspended state corrections officer pleaded guilty to trafficking 22 kilograms of cocaine from Texas to New Jersey, the Attorney General's Office announced today. Eugene W. Braswell, 31, of Newark, was arrested in 2008 on charges that he and five accomplices transported drugs from out of state and sold them in northern New Jersey. Authorities said he...
Eugene W. Braswell, 31TRENTON — A suspended state corrections officer pleaded guilty to trafficking 22 kilograms of cocaine from Texas to New Jersey, the Attorney General's Office announced today.
Eugene W. Braswell, 31, of Newark, was arrested in 2008 on charges that he and five accomplices transported drugs from out of state and sold them in northern New Jersey. Authorities said he and Delrese Hardy, 37, of East Orange, supervised the four other traffickers. All six defendants have pleaded guilty.
“This senior correction officer was living a corrupt double life, guarding prisoners for the state while moonlighting as a major drug trafficker,” said Attorney General Paula Dow.
Two of Braswell's accomplices, Walter S. Braden, 33, and Shuerod Walton, 39, both of East Orange, were arrested in Warren County as they were returning from Houston on July 12, 2008. Detectives had a warrant to search their van and seized 22 kilograms of cocaine hidden in the vehicle's roof panels. Twelve days later, law enforcement officials searched Braswell's home and found drug packaging materials, a revolver and $17,020 in cash.
The investigation by state authorities was launched after a 2007 shooting outside Braswell's home in which the corrections officer returned fire on Waliford Williams, 34, who died at the scene.
“Braswell’s involvement in a fatal shooting in Newark raised a red flag for detectives of the State Police and Division of Criminal Justice, who subsequently uncovered his narcotics network,” said Stephen Taylor, director of the Division of Criminal Justice. “All six defendants in this case now face lengthy prison sentences.”
Braswell, who was suspended without pay from his job as a senior corrections officer at Northern State Prison following his arrest, faces up to 20 years in prison and up to 12 1/2 years without possibility of parole. He will also lose his job and state pension.