Schaumburg Cop Pleads Guilty In Drug Case, Gets 26 Years
WHEATON, Ill. (STMW) -- One of three Schaumburg police detectives accused of withholding and reselling illegal drugs they seized from dealers was sentenced to 26 years in prison Tuesday.
Matthew Hudak, 30, pleaded guilty to unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, official misconduct, burglary and armed violence, according to a statement from the DuPage County State's Attorney's office.
Hudak, of Algonquin, was sentenced to 26 years by Judge Blanche Hill Fawell and will begin servicing his sentence immediately, according to prosecutors. He must serve at least 50 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
Also charged in the investigation into the drug ring were Terrance O'Brien, 47, and John Cichy, 31.
O'Brien, of Palatine, pleaded guilty to the same charges last month and was sentenced to 24 years. Charges are still pending against Cichy, of Streamwood, who is next scheduled to appear in court Oct. 8.
The three officers allegedly took part in an elaborate plan for at least six months that involved withholding drugs taken during arrests, then reselling them through a street dealer, prosecutors said. The drugs included marijuana and cocaine.
Prosecutors also claimed the trio stole $20,000 from a storage locker belonging to a drug dealer, prosecutors said.
The plan came to light in January 2013 as part of a drug investigation being conducted by Carol Stream police.
An informant told investigators the officers had contacted him about six months ago to sell drugs, prosecutor Audrey Anderson said in earlier court proceedings.
After his arrest, O'Brien told investigators he took part in the scheme "for the thrill of it," Anderson said.
"He did not have any money problems," she said, though authorities contended the veteran officer was living "two lives."
O'Brien was married, but also had a girlfriend in the area with whom he had a child, Anderson said in court.
His girlfriend, 45-year-old Nicole Brehm, was also charged in the scheme for allowing the men to use her Hoffman Estates home as a "stash house" for the drugs, the statement said. She pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a controlled substance on March 6 and was sentenced to 46 days in jail, and 24 months probation.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)