A federal inmate at FMC Devens has been sentenced for possessing paper laced with the synthetic cannabinoid K2. Raymond Gaines, 46, received an 18-month prison sentence and one year of supervised release from U.S. District Court Judge Margaret R. Guzman in Worcester.
Gaines pleaded guilty in December 2025 after being charged by complaint in March 2025 alongside Tasha Hammock, a former state employee who supplied him with the contraband. Both were later indicted; Hammock also pleaded guilty.
According to court records, on August 18, 2024, Hammock visited Gaines at FMC Devens and covertly handed him papers containing K2. At that time, she worked for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
The case documents indicate that K2 use poses health risks within FMC Devens, affecting both inmates who smoke it and staff exposed to secondary smoke.
Previously, on January 25, 2022, Gaines was sentenced to over seven years for possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possessing a firearm during drug trafficking. These offenses occurred while he was under federal supervision following a conviction in 2017 for distributing cocaine base near a school. In both prior cases, prosecutors alleged Gaines had ties to the Orchard Park Trailblazers gang in Boston.
On January 17, 2025, Gaines received an Executive Grant of Clemency that reduced his sentence to five years.
Hammock was sentenced in January 2025 to three years of probation; prosecutors had recommended a year in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
“United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan O’Shea of the Worcester Branch Office prosecuted the case.”