An Essex County corrections officer who lives in Jersey City has admitted to taking $14,000 in bribes to smuggle tobacco and a cell phone to inmates, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger announced.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Efrin Wade, 36, of Jersey City, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count of extortion under color of official right.
In January 2023, Wade, who had served as a correctional officer at Essex County Correctional Facility (ECCF) from approximately February 2020 through March 2023, began communicating with an individual whom he believed was seeking to smuggle in contraband to inmates at ECCF for sale to other inmates.
Unbeknownst to him, this individual was in reality an undercover FBI agent. Wade then agreed to smuggle in tobacco and cell phones, both of which inmates at ECCF are forbidden to possess.
On February 1st, 2023, the corrections officer sent his associate, Yairisa Lizardo, to meet with the undercover agent in a parking lot in Bayonne.
At the meeting, Lizardo accepted $10,000 in cash and a substantial quantity of tobacco for Wade to smuggle into ECCF. Over the subsequent weeks, Wade left this tobacco in concealed locations within ECCF believing it would be retrieved by inmates.
However, law enforcement recovered these items after Wade relayed the concealed locations to the undercover agent.
On February 8th, 2023, Wade met the undercover agent in a parking lot in Jersey City where Wade took possession of a cell phone concealed within tobacco.
After smuggling this contraband into ECCF, law enforcement recovered it in a concealed location where Wade had left it for inmates to retrieve.
On February 15th, 2023, Wade met with the undercover agent in the same parking lot in Jersey City where Wade accepted an additional $4,000 for his smuggling activities.
He also explained his plans to smuggle in an additional 15 contraband cell phones, which were to be supplied to him by the undercover agent. Wade expected to be paid at least $30,000 for smuggling these cell phones into ECCF in late March.
He also expected that the cell phones would then be resold to inmates for approximately $5,000 per phone.
Additionally, when approached by agents during his shift at ECCF during the early morning hours of March 14, 2023, Wade was found to be in possession of multiple packs of contraband cigarettes as well as tobacco packs and cigars.
The extortion charge is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 19, 2024.
The charges and allegations contained in the criminal complaint in this matter, which was filed in March of 2023, remain pending as to codefendant Yairisa Lizardo, Wade’s girlfriend. They were both charged by complaint in March 2023.
