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| Cook Allegedly Smuggled Phone, Crack |
| By The New Jersey Herald |
| Published: 03/06/2006 |
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A New Jersey inmate at the Sussex County jail, his girlfriend and a jailhouse cook allegedly conspired to smuggle crack-cocaine and other contraband including a cellular phone into the jail over much of the fall and winter. Frank Fiorvante, 48, of Franklin, was serving a jail sentence for cocaine possession and criminal mischief when the alleged scheme was busted up late last month. Now he could face an up to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit official misconduct. Also facing charges are Fiorvante's 41-year-old girlfriend, Kathy DiMeglio, and the cook, 27-year-old Santino Pronesti of Newton. DiMeglio is charged with conspiracy, Pronesti with official misconduct and third-degree drug distribution; both, like Fiorvante, could face up to 10 years in prison. Fiorvante's cell was raided on Jan. 24. When officers entered, they found him talking on a cell phone, according to an affidavit attached to his arrest warrant. Corrections officers also seized "a variety of contraband" from the cell which Fiorvante, a trustee, had to himself including "a bag of small white rocks which appeared to be cocaine and two crack pipes," the affidavit says. The scope of the conspiracy whether Fiorvante may have dealt the crack among his fellow inmates, and whether anyone else was allegedly involved was not immediately clear last week. The sheriff's department's investigation was considered ongoing. "I don't think, as of now, they have found (evidence of further criminal activity), but they are being prudent, and just trying to make sure there's nothing else," First Assistant Prosecutor William Fitzgibbons said. Fitzgibbons cited the ongoing investigation as a reason for the authorities' silence about the incident in the month since it happened. The smuggling scheme apparently went on for about four months, from Sept. 27 until the Jan. 24 shakedown, according to charging documents. Fiorvante was sentenced in August to a four-year state prison term for a tire-slashing in Hamburg and a subsequent arrest for drug possession, but he never left the county jail. Many county lockups, including Sussex, routinely house state prisoners in extra cells in exchange for daily stipends from the state Corrections Department. Fiorvante was eventually made a trustee in the jail and was assigned to work in the kitchen, the affidavit says. Two days after the Jan. 24 raid, Pronesti, the cook, gave a taped statement to sheriff's department investigators in which he admitted accepting contraband, including crack-cocaine, from a woman named Kathy. He would in turn deliver the contraband to Fiorvante. DiMeglio, a regular visitor to the jail, listed herself as Fiorvante's girlfriend in the visitors log, authorities said. She, too, was interviewed by investigators and admitted delivering a cell phone to Pronesti to have it passed on to Fiorvante. Fiorvante is still being held in the jail; there is no bail because he is still technically a state prisoner. Pronesti and DiMeglio are apparently free on their own recognizance. It was unclear whether Fiorvante or DiMeglio had lawyers, but Pronesti has retained Sparta attorney George Daggett. Daggett said that he believed his client would be exonerated, but would not elaborate on a possible defense strategy. |
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