A former alcohol and substance abuse counselor at Cape Vincent Correctional Facility admitted Wednesday in Jefferson County Court that he sold steroids at the prison.

Richard R. Finley, 56, of 402 James St., Clayton, pleaded guilty to fifth-degree attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance and official misconduct. He admitted that on Nov. 28 he tried to sell an anabolic steroid to another man in the parking lot of the Salmon Run Mall and that between April 2011 and April he sold a controlled substance to a person at the Cape Vincent prison.

A former inmate at the prison, Ismael Melendez Jr., 31, pleaded guilty July 18 to second-degree promoting prison contraband and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and was sentenced to time served. He admitted that while incarcerated Nov. 17 he possessed anabolic steroids and a syringe to inject the drug, both of which are banned items within the facility. It was alleged that the steroids were provided by Mr. Finley. Mr. Finley is expected to be sentenced Oct. 29 to six months in the Metro-Jefferson Public Safety Building and five years’ probation.

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