MORRIS COUNTY — Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp, Acting Chief of Investigations Chris Kimker, and Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon announce the culmination of a narcotics investigation that resulted in the arrest and guilty pleas of four Morris County Correction Officers and one Morris County Sheriff’s Officer for drug-related offenses.
Today’s guilty pleas arose from a multi-month investigation that was conducted by the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Special Enforcement Unit (Narcotics Task Force) after receiving a Morris County Sheriff’s CrimeStoppers Program tip forwarded by Sheriff Gannon about illegal drug activity involving the use by a Morris County Sheriff’s Officer.
The investigation identified four Morris County Correction Officers employed in the Bureau of Corrections who were engaged in an ongoing conspiracy to purchase cocaine for their own personal use.
Two of these correction officers were also engaged in an ongoing conspiracy to distribute cocaine to their fellow officers. Additionally, this investigation identified a Morris County Sheriff’s Officer within the Bureau of Law Enforcement who was engaged in the ongoing conspiracy to purchase oxycodone prescription pills for his personal use.
Two of the officers were also charged with obstructing the administration of law or other governmental function for utilizing a county law enforcement database for an unauthorized purpose in connection to their drug conspiracy.
On October 7, 2020, the following defendants appeared before the Honorable Stephen J. Taylor, P.J.Cr. and pled guilty to the below-referenced charges:
Dominick Andico, 33: One Count of Third Degree Conspiracy to Possess Cocaine in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:5-2 & N.J.S.A. 2C:35-10a; One Count of Third Degree Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:5-2 & N.J.S.A. 2C:35-5 and One Count of Disorderly Person Obstructing the Administration of Law or Other Governmental Function in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:29-1.
Albert Wyman IV, 36: One Count of Third Degree Conspiracy to Possess Cocaine in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:5-2 & N.J.S.A. 2C:35-10a and One Count of Disorderly Person Obstructing the Administration of Law or Other Governmental Function in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:29-1.
Robert Busold, 27: One Count of Third Degree Conspiracy to Possess Cocaine in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:5-2 & N.J.S.A. 2C:35-10a and One Count of Third Degree Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:5-2 & N.J.S.A. 2C:35-5.
Brian T. Rzucidlo, 35: One Count of Third Degree Conspiracy to Possess Cocaine in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:5-2 & N.J.S.A. 2C:35-10a.
Nicholas Ricciotti, 31: One Count of Third Degree Conspiracy to Possess Oxycodone (prescription medication) in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:5-2 & N.J.S.A. 2C:35-10a.
As part of the plea agreements, all defendants agreed to immediately resign from their positions as law enforcement officers, forfeiting their current public employment and will be disqualified from holding any future position in public employment.
In addition, the plea agreements call for a term of probation with mandatory drug treatment. Dominick Andico, Albert Wyman, Robert Busold, and Brian Rzucidlo were all employed by the Morris County Sheriff’s Office and assigned as correction officers at the Morris County Correctional Facility.
Nicholas Ricciotti, a former Morris County correction officer, was now a Morris County Sheriff’s Officer assigned to the Bureau of Law Enforcement.
Prosecutor Knapp stated: “All law enforcement officers must be held to a high standard of conduct. The illicit drug use of these individuals must be dealt with swiftly and effectively. There has been no evidence of distribution other than for their personal use amongst each other. Nevertheless, they are all being terminated immediately and shall forfeit any and all possibility of future public employment.
We thank Sheriff Gannon for his unswerving cooperation throughout this investigation.” Sheriff Gannon stated: “After discovering this information through our Morris County Sheriff’s CrimeStoppers program, I immediately forwarded it to the County Prosecutor for investigation.
One of the silver linings to this sad episode, frankly, is how effectively the Crime Stoppers reporting system works. It proves that nobody – even Corrections and Sheriff’s Officers – are above the law. I trust that the people of Morris County won’t allow the criminal actions of a few bad apples to cast a shadow over the other 322 honest, moral, and hardworking staff at the Sheriff’s Office.
I am proud of my team and we are stronger today for rooting out and removing those who would bring dishonor to our organization and our county.”
Prosecutor Knapp would like to thank the units and agencies that participated in this investigation including the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Special Enforcement Unit (Narcotics Task Force), Mt. Arlington Police Department, Morris County Sheriff’s Office Internal Affairs Unit, and Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Professional Standards Unit, Intelligence Unit, and High-Tech Crimes Unit.
