NECC Defendant Agrees to Plea Deal

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

One of the remaining defendants in the criminal case stemming from the deadly fungal meningitis outbreak has agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges, according to an agreement filed today in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass.
The deal, if finalized, would avert the prospect of Scott Connolly having his own brother Joseph, testify against him.
Under the nine-page deal Scott Connolly agreed to plead guilty to three counts of mail fraud. Federal prosecutors under the proposal agreed to drop two other more serious charges including racketeering.
Connolly worked at the New England Compounding Center in one of the clean rooms where sterile drugs were being prepared. Those included a drug used to stop the hearts of patients undergoing open heart surgery.
Though Connolly worked as a pharmacy technician, he had voluntarily surrendered his technician's certificate while under investigation in an unrelated case.
NECC was the source of contaminated drugs that sickened some 778 patients across the country in 2012. Connolly was one of 14 indicted following a two year federal probe of the outbreak.
Connolly's brother Joseph was a key witness in the trials of two others indicted, Barry Cadden and Glenn Chin. Both are now serving federal prison sentences. Joseph Connolly's testimony included details of his brother's employment over a two year period ending in 2012 when NECC shut down.
Under Connolly's plea deal he could still face a prison sentence of up to 20 years. The agreement is also subject to approval by U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns.
The eight remaining defendants are scheduled to go on trial on Oct. 2.
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