Former Passaic County Correctional Officer Sentenced to 17 Months in Prison for Civil Rights Violation and Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice in Connection with Assault of Pretrial[...]

NEWARK, N.J. - A former Passaic County Correctional Officer was sentenced yesterday for his role in assaulting a pretrial detainee and conspiring to obstruct justice, Senior Counsel Philip Lamparello announced.

Jose Gonzalez, 47, previously pled 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. Judge Farbiarz imposed the sentence yesterday in Newark federal court.

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, Gonzalez admitted that he, along with former Sergeant Donald Vinales, and former 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," Gonzalez admitted that he and 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, 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, Gonzalez, Vinales, 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.

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

Vinales pled 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.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Farbiarz sentenced Gonzalez to two years of supervised release.

Senior Counsel Lamparello credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy 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, Deputy Chief of the Cybercrime 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