Ex-Schaumburg cop's trial in drug-skimming case delayed
A trial date has been pushed back for a former Schaumburg police officer accused with two others of skimming drugs from police seizures and then using an informant to sell the narcotics on the street.
The trial for John Cichy, 31, was set to begin Tuesday in DuPage County, but Judge Blanche Hill Fawell agreed Friday to delay it for an unspecified time at the request of defense attorney Jay Fuller.
Fuller told Fawell he needed more time to review new pieces of evidence disclosed to him earlier in the week.
Fawell gave Fuller until Nov. 6 to review the evidence before she will decide when the trial will proceed.
Cichy, along with fellow Schaumburg officers Matthew Hudak, 31, and Terrance O'Brien, 47, was arrested in January 2013. A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigation found evidence that for at least six months the officers stole cocaine and marijuana from dealers and police seizures and then resold the drugs through an informant, authorities said.
The investigation began on Jan. 2, 2013, when police found about 9 ounces of cocaine in a Carol Stream storage unit. The search led to a former police informant who said he'd been helping three Schaumburg officers deal marijuana and cocaine skimmed from busted drug dealers.
During the next two weeks, prosecutors said, investigators captured the officers on video and audio surveillance as they made plans and carried out drug deals, often in police vehicles and while wearing their service weapons.
Both Hudak and O'Brien pleaded guilty to several counts and already are serving their sentences.
In March, O'Brien pleaded guilty to unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, official misconduct, burglary and armed violence. The unlawful delivery and misconduct sentences will run concurrently with the burglary and armed violence sentences. He is serving a 24-year sentence but could be released after 12 years.
Hudak pleaded guilty to identical charges in April and is serving a 26-year sentence. He could be released after 13 years.
If Cichy proceeds to trial and is found guilty of all counts, he could face as many as 36 years in prison.