Peabody father, daughter free on bail after pleading innocent to drug charge

SALEM – A Peabody father and his daughter arrested after a package containing 100 tablets of OxyContin was mailed to a home on Lynn Street are free on bail, after pleading innocent.Raymond Parker, 56, of 91 Lynn St., and his daughter Jill Parker, 27, of 6 Bay State Blvd., Peabody, entered their pleas Monday afternoon in Salem Superior Court to trafficking over 28 grams of OxyContin, a crime that carries a minimum mandatory seven-year punishment in state prison.Raymond Parker remains free on $1,000 cash bail, despite a strong plea by Assistant District Attorney Michael A. Patten that it be increased to $5,000, the original amount previously set in district court.He told Judge Howard J. Whitehead that Parker had a nine-page record and reminded him of the potential penalty he was facing.But Whitehead sided with the defense noting that Parker was present in court and that the question of his bail had already been reviewed and lowered previously during a hearing in Superior Court.Jill Parker’s bail remained at $2,500 as previously set in district court.The case began in November when authorities learned from a confidential informant in Florida that he was mailing a shipment of OxyContin to Massachusetts.Authorities believe Jill Parker facilitated the drug deal with the informant and the arrangement was that the shipment was to be mailed to her father’s home.Their next scheduled court appearance is May 5 for a pretrial conference.