Owner of sober home charged in addict ploy
Lawyer allegedly ‘exploited’ men by swapping drugs for sex
The owner of a Roxbury sober home is accused of “abusing his power” and exploiting the people in his care by allegedly plying them with drugs, legal work or free rent in exchange for sex — a criminal ploy prosecutors say was meant to keep addicts hooked on drugs and in his program.
David W. Perry — a 57-year-old criminal defense lawyer whose law license was suspended in 2004 for a federal drug conviction and then reinstated a decade later after turning his life around — is facing 15 counts of evidence tampering, seven drug charges and six counts of sex for a fee, according to Attorney General Maura Healey’s office.
“Perry abused his power,” prosecutors said, “by distributing drugs to male substance abuse addicts and exploiting them for sex in exchange for money, rent, drugs, housing and legal representation.”
“This organized criminal scheme was designed to keep male addicts hooked on drugs and keep them as residents … where Perry would profit off them financially and have unfettered access to them for sex,” prosecutors added.
Perry, of Reading, is the owner of Recovery Educational Services Inc., a Roxbury sober home. He had previously run an operation known as Safe Haven Sober Homes on Washington Street.
Peter Pasciucco, Perry’s attorney, said his client is “sickened” by the new indictments.
“David categorically denies that he engaged in the conduct alleged,” Pasciucco said. “He’s confident he can successfully defend against them. David has had a very public battle with substance abuse, but he’s also helped thousands of others who have struggled against the disease.”
The public battle included Perry’s arrest on federal charges for conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine in 2003 that led to a five-year probation and being booted from the Massachusetts Bar. In 2006, he launched Safe Haven on Washington Street with a partner, and has recently run Recovery Educational Services from a nearby address.
Prosecutors say the current case started with Perry filing a complaint with Reading police in November, saying a man he invited to his home had stolen a watch from him. But the police investigation found Perry was holding near nightly sex parties at his home with other men where he’d offer them methamphetamine, cocaine and date rape drugs, prosecutors said.
The man police spoke to about the watch told them he was a resident of Perry’s sober home from 2012 to 2013. During that time, Perry had written false letters to a drug court on his behalf saying he had “clean urine” when in reality he was not sober, prosecutors said. The man told police he had taken drugs in exchange for sex from Perry.
Police said they tapped Perry’s phone and intercepted thousands of text messages detailing a scheme to exchange drugs for sex at the sober home. Perry was first arrested in November when police said they found he provided a resident of the home with fentanyl for sex.
Pasciucco said Perry is out on $10,000 bail, with GPS monitoring and home confinement for all but Sundays. He’s been ordered to stay away from the sober homes he owns and cannot apply for a new passport. Calls and emails to the Recovery Education Services for comment were not returned. Perry is due back in court on May 21.