Former MCI-Norfolk Corrections Officer Sentenced on Drug Charges

BOSTON—A former corrections officer for MCI-Norfolk was sentenced today for his role in attempting to smuggle heroin into the facility for distribution and use by inmates.

RONALD P. MCGINN, JR., 40, of Bridgewater, was sentenced today by Judge George A. O’Toole, Jr. to 30 months in federal prison to be followed by two years of supervised release. McGinn was arrested in April for possession of approximately 29 grams of heroin which he was to bring in to MCI-Norfolk for a fee.

At an earlier plea hearing, the prosecutor told the court that McGinn, a corrections officer for the Massachusetts Department of Correction, was involved in a scheme to smuggle heroin into MCI-Norfolk with the intent to sell it to inmates. In a consensually recorded meeting with an undercover agent, as well as in several text messages between the two, McGinn outlined the amounts he would smuggle into the prison as well as the fee he would charge to do so. During the meeting, McGinn also discussed his prior success in smuggling items into the prison.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The FBI investigated the case in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department Correction. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia M. Carris of Ortiz’s Public Corruption Unit.