OFFICER AT BRISTOL COUNTY HOUSE OF ORRECTION SENTENCED ON WITNESS TAMPERING AND DRUG CHARGES

BOSTON, MA - A Lieutenant at the Bristol County House of Correction was sentenced today in federal court on charges of witness tampering and selling prescription drugs to an individual cooperating with law enforcement.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New England; and Thomas M. Hodgson, Bristol County Sheriff, announced today that WALTER SILVEIRA, III, 43, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William G. Young on a three-count indictment charging him with one count of witness tampering and two counts of distribution of a controlled substance (percocets).

On March 14, 2007, SILVEIRA who at the time held the rank of Lieutenant at the Bristol County Jail and House of Correction (HOC), admitted to being caught in a sting operation in which a convicted drug dealer solicited SILVEIRA’s assistance in delivering a letter to an inmate at the HOC. As captured in tape-recorded conversations, SILVEIRA was told that the letter would coach the inmate to provide false testimony aimed at helping the drug-dealer at his upcoming federal sentencing hearing. In the course of follow-up conversations, SILVEIRA offered to sell the drug dealer some percocet tablets which SILVEIRA had obtained by prescription. In tape-recorded transactions, SILVEIRA sold percocet on two separate occasions, for a total of 107 tablets.

Today, Judge Young sentenced SILVEIRA to 21 months in custody, a $4,000 fine and three years supervised release. In addition, the Court ordered forfeiture of the $540.00 used in the drug buys and imposed a $300 special assessment.

The case was investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys in Sullivan’s Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit.