Handcuffs (Shorebeat File Photo/ banspy/ Flickr)
A former state corrections officer will be heading to prison in a much different role after a judge handed down a three-year sentence in connection with an assault on a patient-inmate – who died a short time later – at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center at East Jersey State Prison, where he was employed.
Giuseppe Mandara, 55, of Brick, was a 15-year veteran of the Department of Corrections at the time of the 2019 incident. He was sentenced last week by New Jersey Superior Court Judge Thomas K. Isenhour, presiding at the Union County Courthouse in Elizabeth. Mandara was ordered to surrender in March to begin serving his sentence.
Mandara pleaded guilty during a hearing on Dec. 3, 2024, to a charge of third degree aggravated assault. Mandara, in addition to the prison term, will also forfeit his public employment and be forever disqualified from any future public office or employment, a statement from the state Attorney General’s office said.
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Based on documents filed and evidence presented to the court in the case and Mandara’s plea allocution, Mandara assaulted the victim on Aug. 23, 2019, inside the sally port area of the West Housing Unit portion of the larger Special Treatment Unit. The Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center provides treatment and incarceration primarily for those convicted of sex offenses.
According to court documents, after a verbal disagreement at Mandara’s desk, the victim was walking away to his assigned work location when Mandara continued the dispute, taking off his duty belt and following the victim. That utility belt included sensitive equipment including the keys to the facility and a radio. In arguing for the sentence, prosecutors pointed out that the ex-officer’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.”
According to the investigation, Mandara cursed and threatened the victim while he followed him instead of following his professional training, which required him to deescalate situations. Another corrections officer attempted to block Mandara from proceeding as he “stormed after the victim,” a statement from the AG’s office said. The defendant “engaged in a physical assault, and Mandara and the victim ended up on the ground, where the physical altercation continued.”
Mandara repeatedly punched the victim while he was on the ground. As part of his plea, Mandara acknowledged his actions were done with the “intent to cause significant bodily injury and were excessive and without justification.”
Several days after the altercation the victim suffered a fatal stroke, however a grand jury did not initiate homicide charges in connection with the victim’s death.
“Rather than following his training and de-escalating this situation, the defendant inflamed a verbal dispute into a physical confrontation,” said Drew Skinner, Executive Director of the state’s Office of Public Integrity & Accountability. “He subsequently concocted a false narrative claiming that his actions were self-defense. Unnecessary and excessive uses of force against those in custody will not be taken lightly, and the defendant will now be held to account.”
A photo of Mandara was not released.
