She was taken into custody and will be held at the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Facility in Chicopee, records show. Wright retained Anthony R. Riccio of Quincy as his defense attorney, records show.

A task force of state police and DOC investigators focused its attention on Wright on Oct. 28 as she monitored inmates’ recreation at the center. gymnasium in MCI-Shirley. Investigators were watching live surveillance cameras at the time, according to a state police report filed in court.

An inmate, identified in court records as Chon Son, 39, went to the gym office where Wright was to return two handballs, state police wrote. (Son pleaded guilty in 2008 to two counts of second-degree murder in Essex Superior Court for breaking into a Lynn home in 2005 and fatally shooting Robert Finnerty Sr., 47 years old, and her daughter Amy Dumas, 16 years old.)

“Son was observed entering the office in the area where Wright was located, but Wright was not visible on the surveillance video because the view into the office was obstructed by the tinted windows,” wrote the state police. “His son was seen gesturing toward Officer Wright and he quickly retrieved and placed an unknown package in his left jacket pocket.”

On surveillance footage, Son was allegedly seen transferring the package from his pocket to the back of his pants. While returning to his cell, Son was arrested by authorities who allegedly discovered the intertwined strips of paper in a package stuffed into pants.

“The package was concealed in a blue latex glove inside a small plastic trash bag,” state police wrote. “The blue latex glove also conforms to the gloves provided to the department (DOC).”

His son refused to speak to investigators. He currently faces no criminal charges for alleged smuggling, authorities said.

While Son was being questioned by investigators, Wright allegedly called his accommodation and asked him to return to the gym office to get supplies. Investigators then told Wright that Son had been arrested by state police and DOC investigators, according to the report.

“Officer Wright was informed that Son had been stopped on the sidewalk and placed in restraints. After hanging up, Officer Wright reported that she was going home sick, but was arrested before she left the jail, authorities wrote. She invoked her right to remain silent and did not want to speak to investigators, state police wrote.

“While investigators were with Officer Wright, they learned that Officer Wright had her personal cell phone on her. This is a prohibited item in the jail without prior authorization which she did not have,” state police wrote.

Wright was allowed to leave the jail that day and was arrested Saturday after police obtained an arrest warrant from Ayer District Court.

Wright earned $94,000 this year, including $29,000 in overtime, an increase from his 2023 salary of $80,000, according to the state comptroller’s office. She joined the DOC in 2013, records show.

Wright’s alleged smuggling activities were exposed Sunday by his former union, the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union. The union’s board of directors said its 3,000 members are threatened by black market drug trafficking in prison and also face threats to their health from exposure to illicit drugs.

“The Board is grateful for the work done by our brothers and sisters in the law enforcement community to apprehend this individual. His actions put all of our members, employees and inmates in danger,” the union said in a statement. press release published on Sunday. “We are united alongside law enforcement and public safety in the quest to eliminate anyone bringing dangerous drugs and contraband into prisons. »

The contraband arrest at MCI-Shirley comes after turmoil at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, a maximum security prison located in Lancaster, where prison officers were stabbed last month. Separately, in October, 150 inmates at Souza-Baranowski were allowed to file a class-action lawsuit alleging that they had been subjected to excessive force by DOC personnel in 2020.

According to State Police, Wright submitted her resignation in September as part of her plan to move to New Jersey, where she planned to live with her sister. As part of the move, she planned to apply for a job with the New Jersey Department of Corrections, state police said.

Jeremiah Manion of the Globe Staff contributed to this report.

John R. Ellement can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him @JREbosglobe.