Former New Jersey Jailers Plead Guilty to Beating Detainee for Tossing Urine
Three former jail guards from Passaic County, New Jersey could face years in prison after they pleaded guilty on May 21, 2025, to assaulting a detainee and lying about it. The guards, Jose Gonzalez, Donald Vinales, and Lorenzo Bowden, admitted to taking a detainee—whose identity has not been released—to an area of the facility, known within the jail as a “blind spot” given its lack of cameras, where they hit him repeatedly while he was handcuffed.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said that after beating the detainee, the guards privately agreed to deny the assault had occurred when facing a grand jury subpoena. The agency says the attack happened in January 2021, a day after the detainee squirted a liquid mixture containing urine on a guard stationed at the jail.
According to a DOJ press release, the guards did not submit documentation of their use of force, which would be required following such an incident. “The vast majority of law enforcement officers understand the trust placed in them by our community when they wear the badge,” said former U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger in a statement. “But when law enforcement officers abuse the trust the community places in them—when they violate the constitutional rights of the people of New Jersey, including prisoners, they will be held accountable.”
A day after the beating, the victim was taken to the hospital, which “documented injuries from the assault,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
The three guards were convicted of deprivation of rights under color of law and conspiracy to obstruct justice, for which they could each face a maximum of 30 years in prison and fines up to $250,000. They are scheduled to be sentenced in fall 2025.
Additional source: NorthJersey.com