Family of man who overdosed in New Jersey prison claims drug smuggling is 'widespread' behind bars • New Jersey Monitor

The family of a man who died of an overdose at East Jersey State Prison has sued the state for wrongful death, alleging that authorities “routinely turn a blind eye” to drug smuggling behind bars, creating dangerous living conditions for people struggling with addiction.

Michael Cassella, 40, of Howell, died of acute fentanyl toxicity on August 18, 2022, at the state prison in Rahway, according to a lawsuit filed last week in state Supreme Court in Union County.

Cassella had a history of drug addiction and should have been monitored accordingly, attorney Brooke M. Barnett wrote in the complaint.

Despite the state Department of Corrections' zero-tolerance policy toward the possession, sale or use of drugs and alcohol, the East Jersey State Prison tolerates “a widespread and systematic pattern and practice” of drug smuggling by correctional officers and inmates, as well as grossly inadequate medical treatment by deliberately disinterested staff, Barnett wrote.

Cassella had been dead for “a while” when an officer found him unconscious in his cell, she added. His aunt called the prison several times when he didn't contact her, but prison officials didn't inform her of his death until days later, the lawsuit says.

“The serious medical needs of inmates, including Mr. Cassella, are given only cursory attention, if not ignored. And when they are acknowledged at all, they are dealt with in sloppy, hasty, ineffective patchwork solutions designed to assuage inmate complaints rather than address human medical needs,” Barnett wrote.

The lawsuit, filed by Cassella's aunt, Donna McNichol of Freehold, names Corrections Director Victoria Kuhn, the department, the prison and unnamed correctional officers and prison medical personnel as defendants.

She accuses them of lack of protection, state-created endangerment, negligence and culpable homicide.

“Heroin and fentanyl are clearly infiltrating prisons,” Barnett told the New Jersey Monitor. “They have a duty to protect these people. I'm not saying it has to be the Hilton Hotel, but you expect those correctional officers and the medical departments there to do what they're supposed to do. If we don't file these lawsuits, everything will stay behind four walls and nothing will be exposed. I look forward to getting some answers.”

Daniel Sperrazza, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections, said he could not comment on pending litigation.

However, he said that correctional facilities across the country, including New Jersey, have seen “a significant increase in the distribution and illicit use of synthetic drugs disguised as regular mail entering prisons.”

“This has contributed to the increasing number of attacks on staff and has jeopardized the safety of everyone in correctional facilities,” Sperrazza said.

Authorities will introduce technology to scan and check mail by the end of the year, financed with state funds from the 2025 budget approved by parliament in June, Sperrazza said. The increased scrutiny of mail comes after authorities launched a pilot program last year designed to strengthen security measures against drug smuggling through the mail.

“This mail-scan technology processes original documents off-site, scans them and then distributes copies of the mail to the population to stem the flow of contraband,” Sperrazza said.

East Jersey State Prison, which holds about 1,200 men, has seen a history of both drug-related deaths — a Newark man incarcerated there died in 2020 after having a severe reaction to synthetic drugs in his cell — and drug smuggling by staff and others, including gang members and Mafia bosses.

Cassella was serving a 20-year prison sentence for an October 2011 car crash that killed a Mount Arlington police officer. In that crash, Cassella was under the influence of various drugs when he crossed a median on Route 80 in Roxbury Township and collided head-on with Officer Joseph Wargo's patrol car. Wargo died shortly afterward in the hospital. According to court records, Cassella told an officer at the scene of the crash that he was in heroin rehabilitation. In 2013, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.