Correctional officer pleads guilty to beating in prison over breakfast leftovers • New Jersey Monitor

A state corrections officer has pleaded guilty to beating a man at a sex offender treatment facility in Woodbridge – an attack his family described as a “gang-style attack” resulting in wrongful death suit They later filed a lawsuit against the state.

Giuseppe Mandara, 55, of Brick, pleaded guilty Tuesday to aggravated assault for the attack on Darrell Smith, 50, who died of a stroke five days after the Aug. 23, 2019, incident in a residential unit at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center died. The beating occurred after Smith took peanut butter, bananas and leftover breakfast sugar from the kitchen where he worked, according to the lawsuit filed by the family and Mandara’s attorney, Stuart Alterman.

According to the attorney general’s office, Mandara agreed to leave his job as part of a plea agreement.

The agreement also bars him from future public office or employment. Mandara was a correctional officer for 20 years, Alterman said. State salary records show his annual salary reached $106,577 this year, although he has not received a salary since last year as he was suspended without pay in July 2023.

Mandara faced up to 10 years in prison before a state grand jury accused him in June 2023. He was subsequently charged with second-degree official misconduct for leaving his keys and radio behind and using excessive or unlawful force, a felony that carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years and a fine of up to $150,000. Dollars are punished. The grand jury declined to indict Mandara on murder charges.

The Attorney General’s Office said Wednesday that prosecutors would recommend a prison sentence of four years.

But Alterman said he expects Mandara to receive probation instead because the plea agreement includes “a presumption of non-incarceration” typically reserved for first-time offenders convicted of third- and fourth-degree felonies. Sentencing is scheduled for January 31.

Alterman said Mandara was a long-time public servant who otherwise had an “immaculate record.”

“He got into an argument with the inmate and may have been overzealous in engaging in the fight,” Alterman said. “The evidence does not establish that he did anything more than beat the inmate and, in fact, the triggering behavior involved the inmate taking advantage of his position in the kitchen to confiscate materials normally known for making alcoholic beverages and be used. as they call it.”