CORRECTION OFFICER FACES DRUG CHARGES

The Suffolk Sheriff's Department continued to battle internal corruption
yesterday as one of its correction officers was charged with cocaine
trafficking and OxyContin distribution inside the Nashua Street Jail.

Nelson Perez, 25, of North Attleboro was held on $25,000 cash bail
following his arraignment in Boston Municipal Court.

State police assigned to Attorney General Tom Reilly's office arrested
Perez about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday after he returned from his dinner break.
Police said they searched Perez's car and found about 30 grams of cocaine,
20 doses of 80 milligrams of OxyContin, an ounce of marijuana and $1,300 in
cash.

Assistant Attorney General William Bloomer indicated that Perez was working
with one or more accomplices in the jail drug ring and that the $1,300 was
to have been his payment for smuggling the drugs into the facility. Bloomer
said Perez was paid between $500 and $1,500 each time he delivered drugs
into the jail.

``This was not the first time he did this,'' Bloomer said, noting that
detectives from his office worked with internal investigators from the
sheriff's department for several months.

No one else was arrested, but spokesmen for Reilly and Sheriff Andrea
Cabral said the investigation will continue.

This was the second instance of a correction officer being arrested on drug
charges in the new administration of Cabral, a former Suffolk assistant
district attorney appointed to replace Richard Rouse as sheriff on Nov. 30
after Rouse took an early retirement.

Rouse's administration as sheriff was plagued by staff misconduct. Four
correction officers were forced off the job for allegedly coercing female
prisoners to have sex with them. One inmate even became pregnant. Two years
ago, seven officers were indicted in U.S. district court on charges of
using excessive force against prisoners.

Perez's defense attorney, Pamela Morris, said her client was being
inaccurately portrayed as a drug distributor.

``He may be buying, but he's not distributing. Let's just say there are
bigger fish to fry,'' Morris said.