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THORNWOOD, N.Y. Former Westchester County Police Officer Michael Brady pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon in Bridgeport to charges stemming from his involvement in a drug smuggling ring at the Westchester County Airport.
This defendant, a sworn law enforcement officer, took cash from a known drug dealer to allow the drug dealer to travel safely through airport security, said U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut David Fein in a press release. I commend the DEA Task Force for shutting down a pipeline of highly-addictive prescription pills from Florida to Connecticut, and for bringing to justice this corrupt officer and others who contributed the illegal scheme.
According to sworn statements and court documents, Brady, 36 and a resident of Thornwood, accepted around $20,000 in cash to allow drug traffickers to pass mass quantities of the prescription painkiller Oxycodone from Florida to Connecticut through the county airport.
On Thursday, Brady pleaded guilty to two federal offenses: extortion under the color of right, which carries a maximum imprisonment of 20 years, and receipt of a bribe by a public official, an offense that carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. He accepted the money as a stationed police officer at the county airport.
Brady, along with 19 other individuals in the drug ring, was arrested in September after an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Shortly after his arrest, Brady was suspended from the force indefinitely without pay and eventually resigned in November.
A spokesperson from the Westchester County Police declined to comment Thursday on Bradys plea other than noting that Brady previously resigned from the force.
Brady is scheduled to be sentenced on these charges in New Haven on May 10.
U.S. Department of Justice officials say the prescription pills that Brady allowed to pass through airport security were distributed throughout various locations in Connecticut, with the traffickers carrying up to 8,000 pills a trip.
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