On February 17, 2012, ex Westchester County Police Officer Michael Brady pled guilty in the U.S. District Court in Bridgeport, Connecticut to federal charges of accepting bribes in connection with an Oxycodone distribution ring. The case began back in September of 2011 when Brady was charged with being a participant in a conspiracy to distribute and sell Oxycodone from Florida to Connecticut. The other alleged members of the ring included two TSA Officers from Florida, a Florida State trooper, two livery drivers from Westchester County, and three couriers whose job it was to transfer the drugs to Connecticut and return cash proceeds to Florida.
Brady was accused of having accepted approximately $20,000 in bribes between late 2010 and April of 2011. He was with the Westchester County Police for 11 years, and had previously been employed as an officer with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.
The investigation by the U.S Attorney’s Office in Connecticut began in April of 2011, and was called “Operation Blue Coast”. In April of last year, a courier was arrested by DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) officers in Bridgeport in possession of 6,000 Oxycodone pills. The Courier admitted to agents that he shuttled several times a week between Florida and Connecticut carrying thousands of pills on each trip. He began cooperating with the DEA, leading to Mr. Brady’s apprehension and arrest on September 13, 2011. Brady had been out on $750,000 bond with the requirement that he wear an electronic monitoring device.
As part of the guilty plea on February 17, 2012, Mr. Brady agreed to a prison term between 37 and 46 months, and will pay fines between $7,500 and $75,000. Additionally, he will have to make a payment of $20,000, which is alleged to be the amount he received in bribes. Had Mr. Brady gone to trial, he could have faced a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail and up to $250,000 in fines. He will be sentenced on May 10, 2012.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that Oxycodone was responsible for 176,000 emergency room visits in 2009. Last June, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman stated that he was behind a bill to create an online database to record the prescription and provision of controlled substances, which include Oxycodone. The bill would attempt to curtail excessive prescription of controlled substances and seek to track down traffickers with multiple prescriptions. Schneiderman noted that the amount of Oxycodone prescriptions in Westchester increased 31% between 2008 and 2010. Federal authorities claim that Florida prescribes ten times more Oxycodone pills than all other U.S. states combined. One Oxycodone pill can sell for between $10.00 and $40.00 on the black market.
Contact The Westchester County Criminal Defense Lawyers online or toll free at (914) 428-7386 if you have been charged with a crime or a traffic infraction for a free consultation with an experienced trial attorney to discuss the charges against you, your rights and legal options.