An accused drug dealer was charged Monday with killing a convicted drug dealer in the Lackawanna County Prison three weeks ago.
The motive wasn't drugs; it was access to newspapers, according to an arrest affidavit and county District Attorney Brian Gallagher, who called the killing “senseless.”
Eli V. Calero, 43, of East Stroudsburg, is charged with a single count of criminal homicide in the beating death of Michael Jones Jr., 45, of Wilkes-Barre, on Sept. 9.
An autopsy found Jones died of blunt head trauma, County Coroner Timothy Rowland said earlier this month.
It happened in a cell
Calero and Jones were awaiting federal trials in separate drug cases in the prison when the assault occurred shortly after 11:30 a.m.
A video recording shows Jones entering Calero’s cell at 11:30. At 11:44 a.m., Calero drags Jones out of his cell and leaves him lying on the floor outside.
“Calero then stands over Jones, takes off his shirts and punches Jones twice in his face/neck areas,” county Detective Vince Butkiewicz wrote in the affidavit. “Jones did not appear to be conscious when (dragged) out of cell K2 (Calero’s cell). While standing over Jones as his body was limp, Calero appears to point and exchange words with another inmate.”
The other inmate, Renaldo Sims, is responsible for delivering computer tablets and newspapers.
“Calero then dragged Jones back into cell K2,” Butkiewicz wrote.
Calero took a newspaper and covered the window to his cell to obscure guards’ view inside, according to the affidavit.
What happened next
He went to a nearby by dayroom, and interacted with other inmates, then returned to the dayroom and sat down. Two minutes later, he headed for the officers control area.
“He is swaying back and forth,” the affidavit says.
Between 11:56 a.m. and 12:11 p.m., several inmates go to Calero’s cell and either only open the door or also go inside.
“Calero is with them but not every time,” the affidavit says.
At 12:04 p.m., Calero washes his hands in a utility closet.
At 12:11, Sims called for a nurse.
At 12:13, medical staff begin trying to resuscitate Jones.
An ambulance arrives at 12:24 and leaves for Geisinger Community Medical Center at 12:47. Jones is pronounced dead at the hospital at 12:59.
What Calero says about motive
As medical staff work on Jones in the prison, a guard escorting Calero back to his cell noticed red abrasions on his neck. Calero told another guard why he attacked Jones.
“Calero (said) Jones entered his cell and made homosexual comments and he was defending himself,” the affidavit says.
Inmates on the motive
Videos and messages by inmates on tablets indicate a different motive.
Four hours before the incident, Sims delivered a newspaper and tablet to Jones, slid a tablet into another inmate’s cell and kept a newspaper for himself and another the entire cell block has access to, video shows, according to the affidavit.
An inmate left with the block newspaper and Sims went after him to return it to the dayroom. Calero saw the interaction, and he and Sims chat briefly.
More than an hour later, Calero walks by a table where Sims is seated.
“Sims holds a newspaper out toward Calero,” the affidavit says. “Calero stops and takes the newspaper, looking very briefly at it, before folding it up and giving it back to Sims.”
Two hours later, the incident occurred.
The tablet messages
Investigators later found the tablet messages.
“Two tablet messages, both from inmates ... mention the newspaper as being the cause of Jones’ death,” according to the affidavit.
One inmate told investigators Calero and Sims recently argued over block work, television usage and newspaper distribution.
“He specifically mentioned that Jones Jr. would get a newspaper in the morning slid under his cell door by Sims, while Sims would keep the other newspaper for himself. He also touched on extra food trays going to inmates Sims was associated with,” Butkiewicz wrote. “He continued stating Calero’s displeasure with Sims was escalating and that other inmates indicated that the physical altercation between Calero (and) Jones Jr. stemmed from an issue with the newspaper.”
Calero’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct.7 at 10:30 a.m.
Why they were behind bars
Calero was in the county prison because a federal grand jury indicted him in April. He faces charges of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine and cocaine in Monroe County.
Jones was charged in 2021 with possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, fentanyl and methamphetamine, possession of a gun in furtherance of drug trafficking, illegal possession of a gun, possession of a stolen gun and running a drug house on High Street in Wilkes-Barre. In December, a federal jury convicted him of all charges. He was awaiting sentencing and faced life in prison.
Prosecutors withdrew the charges after he died, according to court documents.
Federal indictments do not indicate any drug-related interactions between the two men.
