Prison for NJ corrections officer who beat sex offender who then died

🔻NJ corrections officer gets prison
🔻Admitted brutal work attack
🔻Inmate died of stroke days later

TRENTON — A New Jersey corrections officer will now be a prisoner after admitting to beating a sex offender inmate who died of a stroke days later.

Giuseppe Mandara, of Brick, pleaded guilty to third-degree aggravated assault in December.

Under his plea deal, the 55-year-old Mandara forfeited his job and was barred from any future public office or work.

Mandara must report to prison in March, after being sentenced on Friday by Superior Court Judge Thomas Isenhour in Union County.

He was suspended without pay since July 5, 2023, a Department of Corrections spokesperson previously told NJ.com.

The plea deal cleared an official misconduct charge, which would have resulted in a mandatory minimum sentence. The grand jury that reviewed the case declined to hand up any homicide-related charges.

SEE ALSO: NJ corrections officer admits beating inmate in sex offender ward 

The 2019 incident happened in the Special Treatment Unit at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center, in the Avenel section of Woodbridge. The unit houses compulsive repeat male sex offenders.

On Aug. 23, 2019, the man, identified by his family as Darrell Smith, was walking away to his assigned work spot when Mandara took off his work belt, which held prison keys and a radio.

In arguing for the sentence, prosecutors pointed out that Mandara’s anger had reached the level that “he simply did not care if he had left unoccupied for any resident to retrieve these critical pieces of security equipment.”

Mandara then confronted Smith within a secure entryway, following an earlier dispute that escalated into a physical fight with both men on the ground.

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The now ex-officer admitted his repeated punches were meant to cause significant injury — and that his actions were excessive and without justification under the circumstances.

Several days after the beating Smith suffered a fatal stroke. He died on Aug. 28, 2019, days before turning 51, his online obituary said.

A lawsuit filed against the state by his sister said that Smith had been assaulted by a number of corrections officers in the days before his death.

Mandara was the only officer charged in the incident.

Smith had served more than 23 years in prison after being convicted of a 1989 kidnapping and sadistic rape of a developmentally disabled 14-year-old who Smith had recently met, according to court documents.

During a three-day ordeal in an abandoned house in Irvington, Smith raped and tortured the boy, according to court records. The victim escaped by freeing himself and asking a neighbor for help.

In 2016, Smith was transferred from prison to the ADTC, where he worked in food preparation. Smith had been promoted to chef shortly before his death, according to his obituary.

“This needless, unprofessional attack was inconsistent with the years of experience and training that this officer had. In a moment of rage, he lost sight of his responsibilities and his position and set out to simply inflict excessive physical harm,” said Attorney General Matthew Platkin.

“This type of conduct undermines the good work done every day by other law enforcement officers to uphold the law and ensure public safety across New Jersey.”

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