Union County Man Sentenced 19 Months For Smuggling Scheme Using Drones

UNION COUNTY, NJ — A Union County man was sentenced 19 months in prison for his role in a scheme to use drones to smuggle contraband into the federal correctional facility at Fort Dix where he was an inmate, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced Thursday.

Johansel Moronta, 29, of Linden previously pleaded guilty by videoconference for possessing and obtaining contraband while in prison. The contraband included cell phones, tobacco, weight loss supplements and eyeglasses among others.

Read more: Union County Man Pleads Guilty For Smuggling Scheme Using Drones

Moronta had also previously pleaded guilty for violating the terms of his supervised release when he physically assaulted his girlfriend in June of 2021 while at a gas station in Fort Lee. This took place after his release from prison.

Another former inmate, Jason Arteaga-Loayza, previously pleaded guilty to distributing narcotics as part of the scheme. He was sentenced in Sept. 2021 to 43 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton.

Two other men, Adrian Goolcharran and Nicolo Denichilo, also have been charged with participating in the scheme to use drones to smuggle contraband into the prison.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Moronta — who was an inmate at Fort Dix from April 2018 to March 2019 — participated in multiple drone deliveries while incarcerated.

Arteaga-Loayza arranged for Goolcharran, with Denichilo's assistance, to fly drones over Fort Dix and drop packages of contraband into the prison. Moronta then took the contraband and sold it to inmates for profit.

Moronta admitted in court that, on Oct. 30, 2018, he received a bag dropped by a drone onto the roof of a housing unit at FCI Fort Dix, containing tobacco, cellphone chargers and charging cables. Moronta also admitted to possessing a contraband cell phone on that date, which he had used to coordinate the drone drop.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo sentenced Moronta to one year of supervised release.

Sellinger credited agents of the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, Cyber Investigations Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Keith A. Bonanno; the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Detachment 307, under the direction of Superintendent Nicholas Kaplan; and the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Joseph Harris, with the investigation leading to Thursday's sentencing.

He also thanked Federal Bureau of Prisons personnel at Fort Dix; special agents of the FBI; special agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office; and officers with the Pemberton Borough Police Department; the Pemberton Township Police Department; and Chesterfield Township Police Department, for their assistance.