Warminster Ex-Guard Charged With Jail Drug Smuggling

WARMINSTER, PA — A former Bucks County Correctional Facility guard from Warminster has been accused of smuggling drugs into the facility.

Joseph J. Jennings, 31, was arraigned Monday on felony charges of corrupt organizations, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity, possession with intent to deliver and other conspiracy counts.

Prosecutors say Jennings was part of a scheme to smuggle Suboxone strips into the jail and distribute them among inmates. He was one of nine people, including one juvenile, charged in the case.

Prosecutors say Jennings — whose code name "Leonidas" was a reference to the Spartan warrior featured in the movie and graphic novel "300" — smuggled Suboxone into the jail multiple times between October 2018 and July 2019.

During that time, he was a guard assigned to the restrictive housing unit at the Doylestown facility.

Suboxone is an opiate legally used to diminish cravings for heroin and other opioids. It causes less euphoria than other opiates, doctors say, and is sometimes used illegally to ease withdrawal symptoms for opioid users.

Jennings is accused of providing the drugs to inmate Vincent McCandless, Sr., who then distributed the drugs to other inmates, including Joseph Korhan. On the outside, prosecutors say, Joseph Robert Wilson and McCandless's juvenile son supplied Jennings with the Suboxone.

Inmates who bought the drugs did so by various methods, often asking family members to wire money to Wilson or put money in McCandless's commissary account, said the Bucks County District Attorney's office.

McCandless, 35, and Wilson, 40, both of Philadelphia, and Korhan, 47, face the same charges as Jennings. Richard Dzielinski, 40, of Philadelphia, and Travis Davies, 32, of Levittown, are charged with dealing in the proceeds of illegal activity.

Robert Monacelli, 28, of Falls, is charged with possession of contraband by an inmate, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and conspiracy.

A Wilkes-Barre man also is charged with possession of contraband, criminal use of communications and conspiracy.

Following his arraignment, Jennings posted bail set by District Judge Mark D. Douple at 10 percent of $500,000.