BOSTON, Massachusetts – A shocking case of contraband in a federal prison has led to the sentencing of a former state employee in Massachusetts. Tasha Hammock, 44, of Bridgewater, was sentenced to three years of probation in federal court in Worcester on January 16, 2026, for providing a controlled substance, known as K2, to an inmate at the federal prison FMC Devens.
Hammock pleaded guilty in November 2025 to providing contraband to a federal prison inmate, Raymond Gaines. Gaines, an inmate at FMC Devens, was indicted by a federal grand jury with possessing contraband by a prison inmate in March 2025. The indictment revealed that Gaines had been an associate of the Orchard Park Trailblazers, a street gang in Boston.
In February 2022, Gaines was sentenced to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court in Boston to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. At the time, Gaines was on federal supervised release after serving a prison sentence resulting from a 2017 conviction for distributing cocaine base within 1,000 feet of a school.
However, on January 17, 2025, Gaines received an Executive Grant of Clemency, reducing his federal sentence to five years in prison. The clemency granted was a significant reduction from his original sentence of over seven years in prison.
According to court documents, Hammock admitted to passing K2-laced papers to Gaines on August 18, 2024, while visiting him in prison. The K2-laced papers posed a significant health risk to both inmates and prison staff at FMC Devens, where inmates had become sick from smoking paper believed to contain K2, as well as prison staff who had been exposed to the secondary smoke.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley, Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston, and Ryan Geach, Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Regional Office of DOJ-OIG, made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Special Investigative Services Unit at FMC Devens. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan O’Shea of the Worcester Branch Office prosecuted the case.
Hammock, a former employee of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, admitted to the crime and is now facing the consequences of her actions. The case highlights the risks of contraband in federal prisons and the importance of maintaining a safe and secure environment for both inmates and prison staff.
As described in court documents, K2 presents a significant health problem at FMC Devens, where inmates have become sick from smoking paper believed to contain K2, as well as prison staff who have been exposed to the secondary smoke. The case serves as a reminder of the dangers of K2 and the importance of preventing its use in federal prisons.
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Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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