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Prosecutors say they were misled about ex-Schaumburg cop's wife's support

Prosecutors want higher bond restored, saying they were misled about supportive family

A second accused ex-Schaumburg cop was released from jail Tuesday, but prosecutors sought to restore the third suspect's $750,000 cash bond.

In court papers, DuPage County prosecutors argue Terrance O'Brien's wife filed for divorce six days after his arrest on charges alleging shakedowns of drug dealers and doesn't want him to return home or have contact with their three minor-age children. Authorities suggest they were misled that O'Brien, 46, had a home and supportive wife to return to and are asking Judge Blanche Hill Fawell to reinstate the original bond.

The freed officer, John Cichy, left the DuPage County lockup about 3 p.m. after Fawell approved a $25,000 bond put up by Cichy's uncle. Cichy, 30, declined to comment as he walked out.

Tuesday's developments followed the release Monday of the other officer facing charges, 29-year-old Matthew Hudak, on a $35,000 bond.

O'Brien attorney Robert Irsuto declined to comment on prosecutors' attempt to increase his client's bond. The issue will be the subject of a Feb. 20 hearing, he said.

In their motion, prosecutors say Irsuto “emphasized (O'Brien's) immediate family and home in Palatine as factors that render him unlikely to flee the jurisdiction” last week when requesting a lower bond. They want Fawell to reverse her decision to cut the $750,000 amount to $30,000 or “significantly” increase it because his “ties to this community are significantly lesser, and his incentive to flee significantly higher, than he led the court to believe when seeking a bond reduction.”

“In allowing (O'Brien) to return to his home, subject to GPS monitoring, the court relied upon defendant's representations that (he) has a house in Palatine and a supportive wife with him,” Assistant State's Attorney Shanti Kulkarni wrote in the motion. “He has neither.”

Prosecutors also note that O'Brien would be unable to live with his reported mistress, Nicole Brehm, with whom he has another child, because she also was charged in the case and the two have been ordered to have no contact. Brehm is accused of using her home to stash the drugs prosecutors say the ex-cops took from drug dealers.

The three tactical officers resigned in late January, about two weeks after being charged in a scheme to shake down dealers and sell marijuana and cocaine in DuPage County.

If convicted as charged, they could each face a minimum 24 years in prison, prosecutors said. They have pleaded not guilty.

Cichy attorney Jay Fuller said his client's release moves the case “onto the next phase.”

“We're looking forward to getting the discovery and seeing what the evidence is against him,” Fuller said.

Former Schaumburg tactical police officer John Cichy appears for a reduced bail hearing in DuPage County Court on Thursday in Wheaton. He is one of three Schaumburg police officers accused of operating a drug ring. Pool / Chicago Tribune, Chuck Berman
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