A Hudson County Corrections Officer, who is also a resident of Kearny, has been arrested and charged with smuggling contraband into the Hudson County Correctional Facility, Esther Suarez, the Hudson County Prosecutor, said through her spokesman, Raymond Worrall.
According to a news release, on Friday, June 15, shortly after 1:45 p.m., Alex Almeida, 40, of Kearny, was arrested by members of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Public Integrity/Internal Affairs Unit, for his involvement in the smuggling and distribution of contraband into the jail.
Almeida was arrested at the jail without incident during an undercover operation by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Task Force.
Almeida has been charged with official misconduct and conspiracy to commit official misconduct. Reports say Almeida was suspended without pay.
A source, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak about the case, said the contraband reportedly included “alcohol and cigarettes.”
He was processed and released the same day.
Almeida is scheduled to make his first appearance on these charges in Central Judicial Processing Court in the Hudson County Administration Building at 11 a.m., June 26.
Suarez credited the Narcotics Task Force and the Internal Affairs Unit with the arrest.
Hudson County Department of Corrections Director Ronald Edwards said: “The leadership of the Hudson County Corrections Department remains dedicated to the highest professional and ethical standards of the law enforcement profession. We have zero tolerance for any behavior that compromises public and/or officer safety and we will proactively investigate and prosecute any violation of these standards. We will never compromise these core values.”
Please check back for updates to this developing story.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, a place where he has served on and off since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on Facebook Live, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to West Hudson to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.