The case of a correctional officer caught trying to smuggle a potent form of cannabis into a Nova Scotia jail is shedding light on inmate drug trafficking, including testimony about enormously lucrative prices, steep debts, and power behind bars.
Robert John McLaughlin, 42, has pleaded guilty to two charges, asserting he brought the “shatter” — a form of concentrated marijuana — into the Northeast Nova Scotia Correctional Facility during a rough patch in his life and after two men confronted him outside his home and threatened to harm his family.
Untangling what happened in the lead-up to the day McLaughlin was caught at the New Glasgow, N.S., jail on Sept. 3, 2023, has been central to a multi-day sentencing hearing that continued last week in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Pictou, N.S.
The prosecution in the case disputes the man’s account, presenting evidence it believes shows McLaughlin, who admitted to using cocaine while off-duty and had come under suspicion, was a willing participant in a scheme concocted by an inmate.
McLaughlin is no longer employed as a correctional officer; he only began that job in 2022. He has pleaded guilty to one count of breach of trust and one count under the Cannabis Act.
Justice Bryna Hatt is hearing his sentencing and is being asked to determine the aggravating and mitigating factors in the case, which will likely influence the sentence she hands down.
On the day of his arrest, jail officials confronted McLaughlin as he entered the facility. He initially denied “lugging” — smuggling contraband — but when told to empty his pockets he pulled out two barbecue-sausage-sized packages wrapped in electrical tape that contained shatter, the court has been told.
Brent Knowlton, a security risk and intelligence officer at the Northeast Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, testified recently that there had been issues with contraband entering the jail and he began to suspect “corrupt staff” were bringing it in.
He investigated by reviewing surveillance footage and recordings of phone calls inmates made to family and associates. In one call, he said an inmate mentioned having “another vest,” a slang term for a correctional officer willing to bring in contraband.
During a call in August 2023, the inmate told the person on the line he was passing a note. Knowlton matched the time of the comment to surveillance footage showing McLaughlin collecting a coffee cup from the inmate and swiping something off the top of it.
Big profits
Knowlton testified drugs in jail can be sold for up to 10 times their value on the outside. For instance, a gram of hash that might normally cost $20 will sell for as much as $200 on the inside.
The court heard a call from an inmate who boasted that he made roughly $40,000 from one “package” of drugs smuggled into jail.
Drugs in jail are a health risk, he said, but they can also change the “dynamic” of a unit. Inmates able to supply contraband gain power over other prisoners, who sometimes rack up debts due to the inflated prices. This can lead to attacks and violence over money.
The debt can also spill into the community, he said. Once released, those who bought drugs may commit crimes to pay off what they owe, or settle the debt by breaching their conditions to smuggle another package into jail inside a body cavity.
Corrupt officers pose problems beyond contraband, Knowlton said. If an officer is rumoured to be dirty, inmates won’t trust them. In other cases, such officers might tip off prisoners to upcoming searches.
Correctional officers, he said, are trained to understand that if they do small things that break the rules, inmates will try to use that as leverage to force them to do more.
A year before the incident that led to charges, Knowlton said an inmate was heard on a call telling someone that McLaughlin worked at the facility, smokes crack, had “done a few things for us,” and that people might be sent to his house to threaten him.
“There were several different instances where his name was brought forward, either by human source inmates, staff, observations, my own observations, where we had suspected that he was bringing in contraband,” Knowlton testified.
Police were called, the court heard. Deputy Superintendent Scott Smith testified McLaughlin didn’t seem troubled by the threats. Smith said he was offered support and counselling, but didn’t take up the offer.
Prosecutor Glen Scheuer said in an interview that while correctional officials were aware McLaughlin might be a risk, to his understanding nothing “actionable” had come to their attention.
Knowlton said in the months leading up to the arrest, he suspected contraband was being smuggled in through various means. One method involved contraband left in a hospital washroom and picked up by inmates receiving medical treatment.
He also suspected other staff members. He said he could not prove it at the time, but “we did have some resignations.”
The court has heard that just a few days before McLaughlin was caught, an inmate had died of a suspected overdose. Knowlton subsequently testified he learned that a drug package the inmate was carrying in a body cavity appeared to have broken, leading to his death.
McLaughlin testified in February at his sentencing hearing, at points sparring during cross-examination with Scheuer, who questioned whether the claim that two men showed up at his home was true.
McLaughlin stuck by his evidence, telling the court he was mowing his lawn when the pair pulled up in a Honda Civic. They suggested his family would be harmed if he didn’t drive to a home that night, pick up a package and bring it into the jail, he said.
He denied being a crack user, but acknowledged cocaine use. He said he was going through a divorce at the time and made a bad judgment call. “I’m not the person you think I am,” he said.
In an interview, his legal aid lawyer, Nic Hoehne, said while there is evidence of some degree of planning, the defence argues McLaughlin believed there was a “credible threat.”
“I don’t think that it’s necessarily one way or the other,” he said. “I think that both can sort of occur at the same time.”
In cross-examination, McLaughlin agreed he’d been under suspicion, but said up until the day he brought the shatter to the jail he had “upheld my duty 100 per cent.” He denied previously bringing in contraband or being blackmailed.
He inmates routinely asked him to bring in drugs: “They approach everyone, everyday, that’s what they’re in there for.” He testified he would answer with a “Oh yeah, maybe, whatever,” or “Ah, no, I have to think about it.” It was an attempt, he said, to maintain rapport, otherwise inmates could “make your day a living hell.”
“You’ve got to deal with these guys for 12 hours a day, you’re sitting with them,” he said. “You’re not there to be better than them or anything. Tell them what they want to hear, for the day.”
The sentencing hearing continues later this month.
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