A former Passaic County correctional officer who pleaded guilty to assaulting a pretrial detainee was sentenced to 17 months in prison on Monday, according to a release.
Jose Gonzalez, indicted in 2024 on one count of deprivation of rights and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, was accused of taking a detainee to a camera “blind spot” of the Passaic County Jail, knocking him to the ground while handcuffed, and striking him until he needed hospitalization. Gonzalez and two other officers, Donald Vinales and Lorenzo Bowden, were indicted in the incident, which started after the detainee allegedly squeezed a bottle of urine toward an officer.
None of the three filed the required use-of-force documentation after the Jan. 22, 2021, incident, according to the release. Bowden pleaded guilty in 2024, while Gonzalez and Vinales pleaded guilty last year. Bowden and Vinales are awaiting sentencing.
Gonzalez admitted to making false statements during the investigation, and the trio agreed to refuse to cooperate with the investigation, according to prosecutors.
In addition to the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Michael E. Farbiarz in Newark sentenced Gonzalez to two years of supervised release.
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