A Cook County sheriff’s deputy and her boyfriend have been indicted by a federal grand jury on drug charges, officials announced Thursday.
Bridgett Massey, 35, and Sean M. Dwyer, 51, are charged with conspiracy and possession of cocaine. Dwyer, who was convicted in a 1993 robbery case, also faces a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a gun.
Federal prosecutors said if Dwyer is convicted, they’ll seek to confiscate a 9mm Masterpiece Arms handgun, 9mm Walther PPK pistol, orange Dodge Challenger Hellcat and more than $85,000 that officers found last month in a home in the 10900 block of South California Avenue in Morgan Park.
On Aug. 17, Dwyer was arrested during a traffic stop in the 5300 block of South Morgan Avenue and officers recovered about 550 grams of cocaine, according to authorities.
Sheriff’s officers and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents said they later found another 1.1 kilograms of cocaine in the California Avenue home, along with the two 9mm handguns. Dwyer didn’t have a state firearm owner’s identification card, officials said.
A tip that Dwyer was living with a sheriff’s deputy and selling drugs prompted an internal sheriff’s investigation of Massey, who was placed on administrative duty after Dwyer’s arrest. The DEA had been conducting its own drug investigation into Dwyer, officials said.
Dwyer is facing separate drug and gun charges in Cook County Circuit Court in connection with his Aug. 17 arrest. It was unclear whether that case will be dismissed in favor of the federal case.
During an Aug. 24 bond hearing in the Cook County case, Dwyer’s lawyer Jayne Ingles told Judge Kelly McCarthy that he didn’t reside in the California Avenue home.
Ingels also said Massey had “indicated that the weapons were, in fact, her duty weapons,” according to a transcript.
Dwyer was released from Cook County Jail last month after he posted the required 10% of his $15,000 bail. After he was arraigned on federal charges Thursday, Dwyer was ordered to be held in custody until a hearing Monday. Massey was freed on a personal recognizance bond.
