DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - Five people, including a now-former corrections officer and two incarcerated people, are facing drug conspiracy charges after Suboxone was allegedly brought into a Dedham correctional institution, according to the Norfolk County Sheriff’s office.
Jean Guirand, 40, of Saugus, was fired from his position as a corrections officer on Aug. 2 after investigators found 238 strips of Suboxone hidden in two pomade containers in two inmates’ cells, the office said. An investigation involving surveillance videos, interviews, and phone call logs began after the sheriff’s office received a tip about the alleged illegal activity.
In July, Dante Clarke, of Dorchester, an inmate at the Norfolk County Correctional Center on West Street, allegedly asked Guirand to “bring something in for me,” the office said. Guirand told investigators he initially refused to help, but then agreed once he heard he would be paid $5,000, the office said.
Guirand said he was first told by Clarke that the drug was K2, but instead ended up being about $47,600 worth of Suboxone, investigators said.
On July 29, the Suboxone strips were placed inside a Wendy’s fast food bag and handed to Guirand by Amaya Rogers, 27, of Boston, in the correctional facility’s parking lot, the office said. Guirand told investigators that he hid the drugs behind some trash bags when he returned to the housing unit.
Later, Guirand later handed the bags to Clarke, the office said.
Investigators determined that inmates Clarke and Cornel Bell, 29, of Quincy, directed Avelina Faustin, 20, of Brockton, to gain access to the drugs. They determined Faustin then gave them to Rogers to drop off at the facility.
Faustin had allegedly failed earlier in the day to get the drugs and money directly to Guirand, the office said.
“We hold ourselves and our staff to the highest standards in corrections,” said Sheriff Patrick McDermott. “So the last thing that we want to see is drugs being entered into this facility, especially when our number one role here is rehabilitation.”
All five are expected to appear in Dedham District Court for hearings in early October.
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