State corrections officer arrested for selling drugs

Ronald W. Standish Jr.

ALBION – A corrections officer at the Orleans Correctional Facility, a medium-security men’s prison on Gaines Basin Road, has been charged with selling drugs, although law enforcement officials say it’s “undetermined at this time” if the corrections officer was providing drugs to inmates.

Ronald W. Standish Jr., 32, of Holley Road in Albion was arrested on Wednesday after an investigation into the sale and distribution of heroin and cocaine in Albion.

The Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force, the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department and the Albion Police Department K9 Unit executed a search warrant at Standish’s residence. As a result, investigators with the Orleans County District Attorney’s Office arrested Standish on numerous sale and possession charges.

Standish was charged with four counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree (Class B felonies) and four counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree (Class B felonies).

He was arraigned in Albion Town Court by Justice Joseph Fuller. Standish was committed to the Orleans County Jail on $25,000 cash bail or $50,000 bond. He is to return back to Town Court on Friday at 9 a.m.

Standish has been a correction officer for approximately four years.

“This investigation is ongoing,” said Joe Sacco, supervising investigator for the Task Force. “It’s undetermined at this time if Standish was supplying drugs to inmates within the prison. The New York State Department of Correctional Services Inspector General’s Office is assisting in this investigation.”