Essex County Man Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Marijuana into Federal Prison

An Essex County man confessed to assisting in smuggling of marijuana and tobacco into the Essex County Correctional Facility by paying an area man to sneak items through.

Vladimir Sauzereseteo, 40 of East Orange, plead guilty in court today before U.S. District Judge Mary Cooper to one count of conspiring to smuggle contraband into a federal detention facility.

Sauzereseteo allegedly delivered marijuana and tobacco between Sept. 2013 and Jan. 2014 intended for associate Muhammad Subpunallah, 32, a detainee at the facility by way of Brian Kapalin, 67, of Maplewood and a lawyer, who smuggled the items into the prison for a cash fee.

Kapalin spoke to Subpunallah one day in January of this year on a recorded jail phone, and the inmate asked Kaplain to deliver marijuana to the prison. Sauzereseteo then received $1,650 via a Western Union money transfer, which he used to purchase the drugs and pay Kapalin for his service.

Kapalin then met Subpunallah in the attorney conference room at the facility and brought him the marijuana.

Sauzereseteo faces up to five years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine when he is sentenced Dec. 4. Charges against Kapalin and Subpunallah are still pending.