A former correctional officer (CO) received a prison sentence of almost two years last week. The sentence was given for the CO’s involvement in a conspiracy to smuggle drugs into a Virginia prison and for accepting bribes.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts has announced that Kenneth J. Owen, a former correctional officer at Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, Va., has been sentenced to 21 months in prison. The sentencing was carried out by a U.S. District Court judge on Feb. 11. Kenneth J. Owen, 24, hailing from Charlotte Court House, Va., will serve the prison term for his involvement in the aforementioned case.
In September 2024, Owen pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy or molly) and buprenorphine, as well as two counts of money laundering and conspiracy. As a result, he has now been sentenced.
In December 2019 and January 2020, Owen, along with Sathtra Em of Lowell, Mass., and Michael Mao, an inmate at Buckingham, conspired to smuggle drugs into the prison, according to the attorney’s office. The drugs, in the form of Suboxone, contained buprenorphine.
Em was involved in a scheme where drugs were sent by mail to Owen’s residence. In addition, Em paid Owen $1,600 in bribes to smuggle the drugs and contraband to Mao, who was incarcerated at the time.
According to authorities, Mao allegedly sold the smuggled drugs to fellow inmates at Buckingham, while Em took on the responsibility of collecting the drug debts on Mao’s behalf. It is said that Em used the same Cash App accounts she used to pay bribes to Owen for this purpose.
Owen allegedly received the bribes through a Cash App account under the name “Carlos”, swiftly transferring the funds to his own bank account upon receipt.
Em and Mao have both admitted to their involvement in the plot. Em was given a prison sentence of 21 months in August 2024, along with three years of supervised release. Mao, on the other hand, was sentenced to 121 months in prison a few months later, along with four years of supervised release.