June 16, 2026, 3:49 p.m. ET
A Rockland County correction officer accused of slipping a laxative into a colleague’s coffee has pleaded not guilty.
Russell Thorne, 63, of Greenwood Lake in Orange County, was arraigned Tuesday, June 16, in Rockland County Court on an indictment charging him with attempted second-degree assault, a felony, and multiple misdemeanors.
Thorne faces up to four years in prison on the felony charge and Assistant District Attorney Kaitlyn DeLuca said the prosecution’s initial plea offer would require Thorne to serve some prison time.
Thorne, 63, was suspended from the Rockland Sheriff’s Office following his arrest in the case in February.
According to the criminal complaints filed at the time in Clarkstown Justice Court, on the afternoon of Feb. 17 Thorne brought an “unknown dangerous drug” into the jail and placed it into his colleague’s coffee cup intending for her to drink it.
DeLuca on Tuesday told Rockland Judge David Ascher the substance was a laxative.
District Attorney Thomas Walsh II called what Thorne did a “horrendous act of workplace violence.”
“People in their employment should feel safe and secure,” he said. “Our wives, spouses, daughters, sisters, nieces must be secure when they go to work. This was an act of violence. It’s not a prank. An act of humiliation, and we support all people to have a safe work environment particularly in our public institutions.”
Walsh would not say whether the colleague drank the coffee or how it was that investigators determined what Thorne had allegedly done.
Ascher signed an order of protection barring Thorne from any contact with his colleague.
The misdemeanor charges in the indictment are: obstructing governmental administration, official misconduct, second-degree promoting prison contraband, third-degree attempted assault and third-degree criminal tampering.
The charges are not bail eligible. Thorne is due back in court on July 21. Defense lawyer John Ingrassia declined to comment.
