A man who used to work with the Morris County Sheriff’s Office has been accused of drug possession and official misconduct.
Jason Campbell is considering rejecting the prosecutor’s plea agreement after it was already rejected by a Sussex County Superior Court judge. The case was transferred from Sussex County to Morris County after the judge rejected the plea deal because he believed that the deal’s terms would undermine his “judicial integrity.”
When appearing in Morris County Superior Court, Mr. Campbell’s defense attorney argued that the plea agreement’s mandatory five-year sentence for “flashing a badge” to avoid a drug arrest was unfairly harsh. According to the defense, Mr. Campbell decided against accepting the deal when he realized that he was not actually eligible for admission into the Drug Court program. This meant that Mr. Campbell would have been required to serve prison time. Mr. Campbell’s attorney insisted that his client initially accepted the plea deal only because of “the mistaken belief” that he would be eligible for admission into drug court.
Mr. Campbell has been charged with arson, possession of Oxycodone, child neglect, and official misconduct.
If Mr. Campbell’s case goes to trial for the arson charge, Mr. Campbell could be subject to serious prison time. In New Jersey, arson is covered by N.J.S.A. 2C:17-1. The statute classifies arson as a third degree felony. If Mr. Campbell is convicted of third degree arson, he may be sentenced to five (5) years in state prison.
To learn more about this case, access the NJ.com article entitled “Morris County Sheriff’s Officer May Reject Plea Bargain for Drugs, Misconduct.“
