Passaic County Correctional Officer Admits Civil Rights Violation and Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice in Connection with an Assault of a Pretrial Detainee

NEWARK, N.J. – A Passaic County Correctional Officer admitted his role in assaulting a pretrial detainee and conspiring to obstruct justice, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced.

Sergeant Jose Gonzalez, 46, pleaded guilty on May 28, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Michael E. Farbiarz in Newark federal court to a two-count indictment charging him with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

On January 22, 2021, a pretrial detainee at the Passaic County Jail (“PCJ”) squirted a mixture containing urine onto a correctional officer.  The following day, on January 23, 2021, Sergeant Gonzalez admitted that he, along with Sergeant Donald Vinales, and Correctional Officer Lorenzo Bowden, who were also charged in this case, transported the detainee through an area of the PCJ that does not have a video surveillance camera, which Correctional Officers and inmates at the PCJ have referred to as a “blind spot.” While in that “blind spot,” Sergeant Gonzalez admitted that he and Sergeant Vinales assaulted the detainee, while he was handcuffed, when they knocked him to the ground and struck him multiple times.  One day after the assault, the detainee was taken to a local hospital, which documented injuries from the assault.

The defendants were required to submit documentation regarding their use of force.  None of them submitted any such reports.

In March 2022, Sergeant Gonzalez admitted that he made false statements to federal law enforcement officers during an interview in connection with this investigation.  Additionally, in April 2022, after receiving federal grand jury subpoenas in connection with this investigation, Sergeant Gonzalez, Sergeant Vinales, Officer Bowden, among others, met to discuss the federal investigation. During that meeting, the group agreed not to cooperate with the federal investigation and also agreed to say that nothing had happened to the detainee (referring to the assault). Thereafter, during an interview with federal investigators in October 2022, Bowden falsely stated that the detainee had not been assaulted and that there had not been any meeting or communication among those who participated in or witnessed the assault.

Officer Bowden pleaded guilty on April 18, 2024, before Judge Farbiarz to an information charging him with conspiracy to obstruct justice and is awaiting sentencing.

Sergeant Vinales pleaded guilty on May 21, 2025, before Judge Farbiarz to a two-count indictment charging him with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. He is also awaiting sentencing.

The charge of deprivation of rights under color of law carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and the charge of conspiracy to obstruct justice carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Both charges carry a fine of up to $250,000. Gonzalez’s sentencing is scheduled for October 22, 2025.

U.S. Attorney Habba credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly in Newark; and the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office Division of Internal Affairs, under the direction of Sheriff Thomas Adamo.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Levin, Chief of the Narcotics/OCDETF Unit in Newark, and R. Joseph Gribko, Senior Trial Counsel in Trenton. 

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Defense Counsel:

Valerie Palma DeLuisi, Esq., Clifton, New Jersey