Nicolo Denichilo, Drones Used to Smuggle Contraband, New Jersey 2020

TRENTON, N.J. – In a shocking case of prison contraband, two Hudson County men have been charged with conspiring to use drones to smuggle contraband, including marijuana, steroids, syringes, cell phones and cell phone equipment, into the federal correctional facility at Fort Dix.

Nicolo Denichilo, 38, of Jersey City, New Jersey, and Adrian Goolcharran, a/k/a “Adrian Ajoda,” a/k/a “Adrian Ahoda,” 35, of Union City, New Jersey, were each charged by complaint with one count of conspiring to smuggle contraband and to defraud the United States and one count of smuggling contraband into the federal prison at Fort Dix.

Denichilo was arrested March 12, 2020, after federal law enforcement agents learned of a scheduled drone drop at Fort Dix. He had his initial appearance this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tonianne Bongiovanni in Trenton federal court and was released on $100,000 unsecured bond. Goolcharran remains at large.

According to the documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Special agents of the U.S. Office of Inspector General (OIG) obtained evidence of at least seven drone deliveries since July 2018 containing contraband meant for inmates at Fort Dix.

Goolcharran used cell phones to coordinate the drops with others, including text messaging aerial shots of locations at Fort Dix to better position the drops and to discuss weather conditions. On the same day as a drone drop in April 2019, local police in the area conducted a vehicle stop on Denichilo and Goolcharran less than five miles from Fort Dix.

On March 7, 2020, an individual fitting Goolcharran’s description and another individual were captured by a surveillance camera carrying and flying a drone from a launch spot located in the woods outside of Fort Dix. Law enforcement also obtained evidence of Goolcharran bringing multiple drones to a store for repairs, including a broken drone shortly after the March 7, 2020, drone flight.

The conspiracy count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and maximum fine of $250,000 and the contraband smuggling count carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and $100,000 fine.

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