to the security team at the Concord State Prison in Concord, Massachusetts, where he was incarcerated. The letters contained information about corruption in the prison and illegal activities committed or planned by other inmates. In September 1999, Coyne was transported to the United States Courthouse in Boston, where he met with Cronin, another unnamed FBI agent, an unnamed assistant United States Attorney, and a police officer from the city of Cambridge. The meeting was held in response to the letters Coyne had been sending to the prison's security team.


3
During the meeting, Coyne told Cronin that he had additional information, but that he feared for his safety if he passed it along. Cronin thanked Coyne for his prior disclosures and assured him that she would take the precautions necessaryto keep him safe. Relying on this representation, Coyne shared the information with Cronin, who thereafter persuaded Coyne to feign an interest in participating in a still-developing plot by inmates to rob an armored car after their release from prison. Cronin told Coyne to send a letter to one of the individuals planning the robbery — an inmate at the Norfolk State Prison — stating that he (Coyne) would participate in the scheme if the others could wait until after his release. Knowing that mail cannot be sent between inmates at different penal institutions, Cronin instructed Coyne to send this "dummy letter," along with a second letter containing more detailed information for the FBI, to a phony company address in Boston that served as an FBI mail drop.