LAWRENCE, Mass. (AP) - A food service worker at a pre-release center for inmates in the custody of the Essex County sheriff’s office has been charged with smuggling what appears to be the opioid fentanyl into the facility, officials said.
Pedro Carbonell Jr., 39, of Lawrence, an employee of a private food service contractor, was charged with delivering drugs to a prisoner in a correctional institution or jail, according to a statement Tuesday from the office of Essex County Sheriff Kevin Coppinger.
He was arrested after a two-month investigation into drugs at the facility in Lawrence known as The Farm.
Carbonell was confronted by investigators on May 16 as he arrived at the facility for his early morning shift, according to the statement.
Carbonell will be arraigned at a later date. It could not be determined if he has a lawyer. He faces up to five years behind bars if convicted the office said.
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