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A man detained at a New Jersey facility housing civilly committed sex offenders died of a drug overdose earlier this year just before the unit stepped up efforts to crack down on contraband, state officials said. Tyrone F. Ellison, 46, of Newark, died March 10 in the Special Treatment Unit, which is located next to East Jersey State Prison in Woodbridge. The unit, run by the state corrections and health departments, holds more than 400 men who served prison time for sex crimes but were deemed too dangerous to release once their sentences ended. They are detained indefinitely under the state’s Sexually Violent Predator Act, with some staying years or decades after their criminal sentences end. Ellison’s death, attributed to intoxication from a synthetic cannabinoid, was the first fatal drug overdose at the facility in five years, state officials said. “The New Jersey Department of Corrections takes the loss of life seriously and prioritizes the deterrence and interception of contraband with the highest urgency,” the agency said in a statement. Synthetic cannabinoids are human-made mind-altering chemicals, known generally as K2 or Spice. They can often be sprayed onto paper and smuggled into the facility, where they are smoked by detainees. Detainees say drug use is prevalent in the treatment unit and advocates have called for expanded addiction treatment. Drug smuggling into the facility and state prisons is a major problem, state officials have acknowledged. The corrections department recently began beefing up efforts to intercept contraband. A new program to screen mail for drugs and other contraband before it comes into the unit began a month after Ellison’s death. The state Department of Corrections has faced recent lawsuits over drug overdose deaths of two inmates at state prisons. In those cases, families argued the department failed to address drug smuggling issues. Detainees at the Special Treatment Unit aren’t considered prisoners and enjoy limited freedoms. They’re prohibited from leaving, however, until a judge orders their discharge. In a series of stories in 2024, an NJ Advance Media investigation of the operations of the facility detailed questions about whether the unit is truly intended to treat and rehabilitate offenders or simply to warehouse them. Some detainees and advocates complained about inadequate addiction treatment services in the unit. An attorney who represents civilly committed sex offenders said last year that he believes 90% of unit detainees have a substance abuse issue. He said the facility doesn’t provide the kind of help they need to conquer their addictions. Ellison, who was committed to the Special Treatment Unit in 2011, died of MDMB-4en-PINACA intoxication, according to information provided earlier this month by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. The substance is a synthetic cannabinoid that mimics the effects of marijuana. Synthetic cannabinoids can cause agitation, paranoia, hallucinations, vomiting, seizures and death. “Medically, synthetic cannabinoids can trigger acute toxic reactions due to unpredictable potency and contamination,” according to the corrections department. Contributing factors in Ellison’s death included a seizure disorder and schizophrenia, the prosecutor’s office added, noting that he was prescribed an anti-psychotic medication at the facility. Drugs like K2 are easy to smuggle because, as a liquid, they can be sprayed on a plain sheet of paper and eventually smoked, according to law enforcement officials. The substance dries and can be visually undetectable to prison staff checking mail. In many cases, K2 is sprayed on phony legal documents made to look like they came from a legitimate lawyer, a corrections union official said last year. Those held at the unit can sell the drug-laced paper for $25 a strip, and up to $300 for a whole sheet, one detainee told NJ Advance Media in 2024. That detainee, Gary Gosciak, said he overdosed three times on K2 inside the Special Treatment Unit. The drug’s potency depends on any added ingredients, he said. “Sometimes it comes in and it’s mixed with fentanyl,” Gosciak said. “So, if it’s mixed with that stuff, it’s like 10 times as strong or a hundred times as strong, and we don’t know it until we smoke it.” Detainees say overdoses at the facility are common, but Ellison’s death was the first drug-related fatality at the unit since 2020, according to the corrections department, which attributed that to medical examiner documentation. A corrections spokesman said it’s difficult to say how many non-fatal overdoses there have been in the facility. That is because a detainee may show signs of intoxication without meeting the criteria for an overdose or may be taken out of the facility for treatment. Advocates for detainees want the health department to provide more addiction support services. “New Jersey Office of the Public Defender is saddened by the death of an individual in the custody of NJDOC,” said Assistant Public Defender Michael Mangels, who leads the team of public defenders representing most detainees. “We urge NJDOH to expand access to treatment, mental health services and supportive programming to better assist those struggling with addiction while incarcerated.” Detainees are assessed for substance use when they come to the treatment unit and provided with individualized treatment based on their need, according to the health department. If detainees are diagnosed with an addiction, they are assigned treatment programs. Treatment unit detainees are allowed to keep more possessions than prison inmates and can receive regular package deliveries of food and other items. The corrections department has tightened regulations on detainee possessions and deliveries to stem the flow of drugs, noting that the substances pose a danger to staff and detainees. “The NJDOC has recently strengthened rules and security procedures guiding property and packages, including food deliveries, at the Special Treatment Unit, as part of a system-wide strategy to prevent contraband from entering facilities,” according to a corrections department statement. “These measures complement enhanced mail screening protocols, which are specifically designed to disrupt synthetic narcotics and other contraband introduced through the mail, a known method of K2 smuggling in correctional environments,” the statement said. The changes prompted one detainee at the facility to complain that the restrictions mirror prison rules and likely violate detainee rights. He expressed his concerns via a message sent to his family and shared with NJ Advance Media. New Jersey Corrections Ombudsperson Terry Schuster said his office has received several complaints from detainees regarding this new policy. “We were notified of the policy changes related to personal property and food packages,” Schuster said. “My impression was that the changes were aimed at addressing longstanding problems with living spaces being over-stuffed with property and food, and contributing to issues with pests and overcrowding.” Schuster called that a legitimate policy goal, but said his office would examine the complaints to see if anything in the new rules raised concerns. In another effort to battle contraband, the corrections department launched a mail screening system this year in which all mail for state prison inmates and treatment unit detainees is shipped to a contractor in Las Vegas, Nevada. The mail is opened by the vendor, screened for contraband, scanned and printed out. The paper copies are then forwarded to recipients. “These measures effectively disrupt a primary method of contraband infiltration without compromising communication between incarcerated individuals and their families,” the corrections department said. Overdose rates have dropped across the state corrections system by around 50% since the new mail screening system was put in place, NJ PBA Local 105 President William Sullivan said in April. Ellison’s death occurred a month before this new screening process began at the Special Treatment Unit. Ellison filed a federal lawsuit in 2022 claiming he was beaten, placed in a chokehold and pepper sprayed by corrections officers at the treatment unit in 2020 after he was caught using a cellphone in the facility. Detainees are not permitted to possess cellphones. He also claimed an officer called him derogatory names based on his “alleged or perceived sexual preference,” according to the suit. The case was dismissed after Ellison’s death. His attorney in that case did not respond to a phone call and email seeking comment about the allegations.
