Tasha Hammock, K2-Laced Papers, Massachusetts 2025

BOSTON – A former Massachusetts state employee pleaded guilty to providing a controlled substance to a federal inmate at the FMC Devens prison, where inmates have fallen ill from smoking paper believed to contain the synthetic cannabinoid known as K2.

Tasha Hammock, 43, a former employee with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, admitted to passing K2-laced papers to her co-conspirator, Raymond Gaines, on Aug. 18, 2024.

Gaines, a federal inmate at FMC Devens, was granted clemency on Jan. 17, 2025, reducing his 2022 federal prison sentence for drug distribution from more than seven years to five years.

Hammock faces up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Her sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 16, 2026.

The charges of providing a prohibited object to a prison inmate and receiving a prohibited object by a prison inmate each carry a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan O’Shea of the Worcester Branch Office, and valuable assistance was provided by the Special Investigative Services Unit at FMC Devens.

Hammock was employed with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection at the time of the incident and is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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