A former corrections officer was sentenced yesterday in federal court for distributing marijuana, OxyContin, and other drugs to inmates at the Suffolk County (Mass.) House of Correction's South Bay facility.
United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Kenneth R. Kaiser, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New England; and Andrea Cabral, Suffolk County Sheriff, announced that Peter J. Lawless, age 27, of 1161 Washington Street, Norwood, Massachusetts, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Reginald C. Lindsay to 3 years of probation, the first 6 months of which are to be served in home confinement. Judge Lindsay also imposed a $3,500 fine. On March 18, 2004, Lawless pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, marijuana, OxyContin, and Klonopin; and two counts of distribution of marijuana.
At the earlier plea hearing, the prosecutor told the Court that, had the case proceeded to trial, the Government's evidence would have proven that in the summer of 2002, Lawless arranged to smuggle packages containing various controlled substances into South Bay and to provide the drugs to inmates at South Bay. In particular, the prosecutor stated that evidence would have shown that on July 18, 2002, and July 31, 2002, Lawless brought quantities of marijuana into the South Bay facility on behalf of inmates.
The case was investigated jointly by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Farley in Sullivan's Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit.