Investigations

-A A +A
skip-to-content

Two New Jersey Individuals Admit Roles in Scheme To Use Drones To Smuggle Contraband into a Federal Prison

On February 2 and 3, 2022, Nicolo Denichilo and Adrian Goolcharran (collectively, the defendants), were charged by criminal information and pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to one count each of conspiracy to defraud the United States Bureau of Prisons. The investigation revealed that between November 2018 and March 2020, the defendants, among others, participated in multiple overnight drone deliveries of packages containing tobacco, cell phones and accessories, weight loss supplements, eyeglasses, and other items to an inmate housing unit at the Fort Dix Federal Prison. The contents were then sold to inmates for profit. Two other individuals, Jason Arteaga-Loayza and Johansel Moronta, previously pleaded guilty to participating in the scheme.
 
DOT-OIG is conducting this investigation with Department of Justice OIG and the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations.