Former Correctional Facility Guard Pleads Guilty In Drug Ring

WARMINSTER, PA — A former guard at the Bucks County Correctional Facility has pleas guilty to charges related to his involvement in a drug smuggling ring, which operated in the jail.

Joseph J. Jennings, 33, of Warminster, pleaded guilty for his role in the smuggling ring on Wednesday, Nov. 17. Jennings was one of nine other men charged in June 2020 for smuggling Suboxone strips into the prison to be disbursed to inmates. The majority of the smuggling occurred from October 2018 to July 2019.

Vincent McCandless Sr., 36, an inmate in the jail, was his partner in the ring. They also worked with Joseph Robert Wilson, 41, of Philadelphia, who supplied the drugs, and enlisted the help if McCandless Sr.'s teenage son in the operation.

Inmates paid for the drugs via money wires from family to Wilson and depositing funds into McCandless’s prison commissary account, according to police.

Jennings was sentenced to two to four years in state prison, with McCandleless sentenced to 35 to 70 months in state prison on top of the 4 and a half to 10 years he was already serving. McCandless pleaded guilty in April. Wilson pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing in December.

Others involved include Travis Davies, 33 of Levittown, who pleaded guilty in March to contraband and conspiracy; he was sentenced to one to two years in prison. Joseph Korhan, 48, of Woodstown, N.J., pleaded guilty in June to contraband and conspiracy: he was sentenced to two to four years in state prison. Robert Monacelli, 29, of Falls Township, pleaded guilty in June to contraband and conspiracy and was sentenced to two to four years in state prison. Richard Dzielinski, 42, of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty in November of 2019 to contraband and conspiracy; his sentencing was deferred to a later date. Jonathan King, 32, of Wilkes Barre, is awaiting trial.

"“This drug organization would not have been discovered but for the diligent Investigators at the prison,” Deputy District Attorney Mary Kate Kohler said. “They worked tirelessly alongside Bucks County Detectives to uncover its enormous scope and the root of the problem – a dirty guard. Law Enforcement in this County will not tolerate a ‘bad apple’ amongst their ranks."

For all additional information, visit the Bucks County District Attorney's CrimeWatch website.