Former Prison Guard Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Smuggle Drugs into Virginia Prison

Press Release

Defendant also conspired to launder the bribes of drug trafficker-inmate

BOSTON - A Virginia man pleaded guilty today to conspiring to distribute controlled substances and launder drug proceeds with co-conspirators in Massachusetts and Virginia.

Kenneth J. Owen, 24, of Charlotte Court House, Va., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute MDMA and buprenorphine and two counts of money laundering conspiracy. U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled sentencing for Dec. 10, 2024.

In December 2019 and January 2020, Owen conspired with Sathtra Em, a Lowell resident, and Michael Mao, an inmate at the Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, Va., to smuggle MDMA and buprenorphine in the form of Suboxone and generic Suboxone sublingual films into the prison. At the time, Owen was working as a correctional officer at Buckingham.

As part of the conspiracy, Em mailed the drugs to Owen's residence and paid him $1,600 in bribes to deliver the drugs and other contraband to Mao in the prison. Mao then sold the smuggled drugs to other inmates at Buckingham and Em collected the drug debts on behalf of Mao in the same Cash App accounts she used to pay the bribes to Owen. Owen used a Cash App account with the name "Carlos" to receive the bribes from Em, and he cashed out the funds to his bank account within minutes of receiving them.

Em and Mao previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy. On Aug. 14, 2024, Em was sentenced to 21 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Mao is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 18, 2024.

The charge of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute MDMA and buprenorphine provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years and up to life of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. The charge of money laundering conspiracy provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $500,000, or twice the amount of the property involved, whichever is greater. Both charges also include forfeiture of assets traceable to or involved in the distribution and laundering offenses. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement. Special assistance was provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigations and the Virginia Department of Corrections. Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred M. Wyshak, III of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Amhrein of the Asset Forfeiture Unit, are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

Updated September 13, 2024