Leah B. Foley United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts | Department of Justice
A Methuen resident has pleaded guilty in federal court to sending drugs into a federal prison. Tuere Barnes, 43, admitted to one count of providing contraband in prison during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs in Boston. Sentencing is set for May 11, 2026.
According to prosecutors, on or about January 23, 2023, Barnes arranged for a package containing 460 sublingual strips laced with narcotics to be shipped to an inmate at FCI Danbury, a federal correctional facility in Connecticut. Laboratory analysis confirmed that the strips contained buprenorphine, which is classified as a Schedule III controlled substance. Federal regulations prohibit the possession of narcotics within correctional facilities. Investigators found Barnes’s fingerprints on papers included in the package.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Sentences are determined by federal judges according to U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and relevant statutes.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, announced the plea today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John T. Mulcahy and Lauren Maynard from the Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit are handling the prosecution.
