Jail chaplain pleads not guilty to smuggling
By Associated Press | Thursday, April 7, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage
MEDFORD — A Roman Catholic deacon and chaplain at a jail accused of smuggling drugs and other contraband to inmates told authorities he did so because he was being blackmailed.
According to court documents, William Emerson, deacon at St. William Church in Tewksbury, told investigators he smuggled drugs into jails in Billerica and Cambridge because two pretrial detainees threatened to tell authorities he had pornography on his home computer.
A spokeswoman for the Middlesex district attorney tells The Sun of Lowell that investigators checked Emerson’s computer and the pornography was legal.
Emerson pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to delivering an article to a prisoner and was released on personal recognizance. He is due back in court May 5 to face three counts of delivering drugs to prisoners.
Emerson and his lawyer declined comment.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1329031
