Correction Officer Charged With Selling OxyContin, Steroids
Correction Officer Charged With Selling OxyContin, Steroids, By: John R. Ellement
6/1/07
A Suffolk County correction officer today pleaded not guilty to charges of selling OxyContin pills and steroids in Quincy where he lives, according to records filed in court.
Quincy police arrested Alexander Santarelli, 32, at his Prospect Avenue home on Thursday night. Armed with a search warrant and drug-sniffing dogs, police said they opened a locked safe in his living room closet and recovered $7,009 in cash, 60 OxyContin pills, and three handguns and ammunition, according to Quincy police report filed in Quincy District Court. In the closet with the safe, police said they also discovered a nylon bag holding "several types of steroids" and an unloaded .40-caliber Glock pistol.
Santarelli, who had a valid firearms permit, was ordered held on $20,000 cash bail and is due back in court June 28, according to records. His license to carry firearms was suspended, records show.
Steve Tompkins, spokesman for Suffolk Sheriff Andrea Cabral, said Santarelli is a grade one correction officer who has been a member of the department since November 2005 and was assigned to the House of Correction. Tompkins said authorities are investigating whether Santarelli also allegedly smuggled drugs into the prison.
As a result of his arrest, Santarelli has been placed on administrative leave without pay pending the outcome of the criminal charges, Tompkins said.
