BOSTON (WHDH) - A lawyer who owns and operates a Roxbury sober home is facing criminal charges after prosecutors say he gave drugs to recovering addicts in exchange for sex, officials said.
David Perry, 57, of Reading, was arraigned Wednesday in Suffolk Superior Court on three counts of conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs and sex for a fee and an evidence tampering charge, Attorney General Maura Healey announced Thursday.
Perry is the owner and operator of Recovery Education Services, a Roxbury nonprofit that runs a residential facility for men in recovery from alcohol and drug addictions.
Perry was indicted May 4 by a Statewide Grand Jury on 15 counts of evidence tampering, seven counts of conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs, six counts of illegally possessing Class B, C and E substances and six counts of sex for a fee. He was indicted in February on a charge of distributing fentanyl and conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs.
In court Wednesday, Perry pleaded not guilty to the charges and was held on $10,000 with the conditions that he be monitored via GPS and subject to home confinement, except on Sundays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and except for court appearances and probation check-ins on his own pending cases.
He was also ordered to stay away from the sober home he owns and most Grand Jury witnesses and cannot apply for a new passport.
“The AG’s Office alleges Perry exploited men suffering from addiction by distributing drugs in exchange for sexual activity. The sexual activity occurred in Perry’s personal room at RES as well as at his residence in Reading,” Healey’s Office said in a statement. “The AG’s Office also alleges Perry falsified letters he sent to various probation departments on behalf of numerous individuals, including some who were his legal clients and some who lived at RES. In the letters, Perry falsely stated the individual had been tested for drugs and produced a clean urine sample showing no sign of illegal drugs. In some cases, the letters also falsely stated the individual was a resident of RES, sober and participating in the recovery programming offered at the sober house.”
Perry is due back in Suffolk Superior Court May 21 for a pretrial conference.
He will be arraigned on the charges of possession of Illegal Class B, C and E substances and three counts of sex for fee in Middlesex Superior Court at a later date.
Perry was arrested in November 2017 after authorities obtained and executed a search warrant at RES and his Reading home. During the execution of the search warrant, authorities recovered cocaine, fentanyl and various prescription drugs including methamphetamine, Sildenafil, Tadalafil and Clonazepam.
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