A Monroe County lieutenant has been charged with giving contraband to an officer during a gift exchange.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Detective Derek J. Marshall of the Criminal Investigations Division of the Monroe County Office of the District Attorney in the case against Lt. Anthony Perez:

At 6:25 p.m. Jan. 29, Monroe County Correctional Facility corrections officer Raphael Pence advised detectives of an incident that occurred Dec. 21, 2023, in the intake area of the prison.

A secret Santa gift exchange was organized by officers and Pence discovered that Perez, 56, of East Stroudsburg, was his secret Santa.

Perez asked Pence to open the gift immediately. It was a survival kit with items prohibited per the prison’s Employee Policy Manual: Multi tool with hatchet/hammer, straight edge knife, serrated blade, metal file, and screwdriver; folding knife, with 3-inch blade; wire saw; fire starter rod; spark with straight edged knife for a handle; and a tactical pen, with glass breaker point on back half of pen.

Pence told detectives that it is common practice during the exchange that if a gift may be considered contraband and is prohibited in the prison, the secret Santa would put the gift in the vehicle of the recipient.

Pence said after opening the kit, Perez took the hatchet/multi tool out of the case and began to play with it, demonstrating what could be done with it.

After Perez was done, Pence put the hatchet/multi tool back in the case and closed it.

The case stayed on the desk of the workstation, in the intake area for about 10 to 15 minutes. Perez eventually asked Pence to put the case in his locker. Pence walking through the prison to the officers’ locker room and placed the case in his locker until the end of his shift.

At the end of his shift, Pence took his gift out of the prison and brought it home.

About two weeks later, Deputy Warden Joseph McCoy contacted Pence about the incident.

Pence reluctantly told McCoy, concerned that he would get in trouble for having the items in the prison.

Perez faces charges on five counts of contraband prohibited: weapons brought into institution, along with one count of introduce weapon that may be used to escape.

Perez remains free in lieu of $10,000 unsecured bail, and is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Wednesday before District Judge Paul J. Gasper of Stroudsburg.