Former Morris Sheriff’s Officers who bought cocaine outside the jail are sentenced to probation

These Morris County Sheriff's Officers pled guity to drug offenses, Oct. 7, 2020. Photos: Morris County Sheriff's Office
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They were sworn to arrest drug dealers. Instead, they arranged for cocaine deliveries to the parking lot of the Morris County Jail, where they worked as Sheriff’s Officers.

Four former officers were sentenced Thursday to probation in exchange for pleading guilty to drug offenses.

Three of the ex-lawmen received three-year terms from Superior Court Judge Stephen Taylor. Another will report to probation for two years. A fifth man will be sentenced next month.

As felons, they will be barred from future public employment. They also lose their pensions. They will be required to undergo drug testing, and probation officials will determine if they must continue in treatment programs.

The former officers faced lengthy prison terms and hefty fines if convicted at trial.

In October, they pleaded to a variety of second- and third-degree charges of conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine and the prescription painkiller oxycodone, and to obstructing the investigation. Second degree offenses carry maximum penalties of 10 years behind bars and $150,000 in fines.

Superior Court Judge Stephen Taylor, pictured in Feb. 24, 2020. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

They were caught thanks to a tip last year to the Morris County Sheriff’s CrimeStoppers program, which led investigators to Mt. Arlington drug dealers and their customers, the sheriff’s officers.

A sergeant arranged cocaine deliveries to the parking lot of the Morris County Jail, where four of them worked. One, assigned to the records room, searched law enforcement records to see if they were under investigation, according to Morris County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Brad Seabury.

They bought the drugs for their own use; they did not distribute them to inmates, Seabury said at Thursday’s hearings, held via Zoom because of the pandemic.

Sentenced were former Sgt. Dominick Andico, 33; Albert Wyman IV, 36;  Nicholas Ricciotti, 31, and Robert Busold, age 27.  Brian T. Rzucidlo, 35, is scheduled for sentencing next month.

All worked at the county lockup in Morris Township except for Ricciotti, who moved from corrections to security services at the Morris County Courthouse in Morristown in 2016.

Calling their job forfeitures “unfortunate…but absolutely necessary,” Judge Taylor observed that substance abuse affects everyone but may be “particularly acute” for those in law enforcement.

They “put themselves on the front lines, they put their lives at risk often, and oftentimes without much appreciation.

“So I can certainly understand how the stress of a job, coupled with the stress of losing a loved one may lead to substantial drug abuse,” Taylor said, referring to Busold’s loss of a parent last year.

Morris County Sheriff James Gannon fielded the tip more than a year ago and forwarded it to the prosecutor’s office, he said.

“One of the silver linings to this sad episode, frankly, is how effectively the CrimeStoppers reporting system worked,” the sheriff said in a statement.

Gannon has championed programs to help the public beat opioid addiction, and to help jail inmates get clean and prepare for their return to society. But he draws the line at law enforcement.

“It proves that nobody – even Corrections and Sheriff’s Officers – are above the law,” he said of CrimeStoppers. “There is no place in my agency for officers who mock the oath they swore by using illegal drugs.  I have a zero tolerance policy towards this kind of behavior and always will.”

‘SUPPOSED TO BE ROLE MODELS’

Seabury said he took no pleasure in prosecuting fellow law enforcement officers, who are not immune to the disease of addiction. But they must be held to higher standards because their badges and guns place them in positions of public trust. Each of these men was “supposed to be a role model to our society,” he said.

Busold’s duty was to arrest drug dealers. “Instead, he was involved in an ongoing conspiracy” with them, Seabury said.

Andico was described as the “hub” of the officers’ conspiracy, buying cocaine from a relative and from others almost every day for nearly a year.

“They looked up to him,” as a sergeant and a friend. “And he was their drug distributor, he was their connect to a wholesale drug distributor. He fueled their addiction,” Seabury said.

Andico’s cocaine problem began at age 19, the judge noted.

At 33, Andico has “lost everything,” including his fiancée, said his lawyer, Anthony Arbore. 

“I am ready to put this all behind me and move on with my life in a healthy way,” Andico told the judge, after apologizing for his work attire. He has traded his sheriff’s uniform and $112,000 salary for a job driving trucks for a freight carrier.

Andico entered a Florida rehab program for a month last fall, then enrolled in outpatient treatment. That stopped when he lost his health benefits from the sheriff’s office, he said.

The judge gave Ricciotti two years’ probation. He was charged with conspiring to possess, but not distribute, oxycodone.

Riciotti now is a foreman for a moving company. In his apology, the busted officer cited his weekly attendance at psychotherapy sessions and 12-step meetings, in hopes of becoming “a better husband, friend and a new father” to a child born two weeks ago.

“Asking for help is never an easy thing to do. Through this unfortunate experience, I have found useful resources that I was unaware of,” Riciotti told the judge. “I will continue to grow as a person, not let these mistakes define me, and look forward to what my new future holds.”

Wyman, who had attempted to ferret out records about the prosecutor’s investigation, said he regretted his lawbreaking.

“But at the same time I’m grateful that it happened. Because if it didn’t, I probably wouldn’t be here today. I know that I caused pain to friends and family, and I was in a really bad place,” Wyman said.

Acknowledging the support of his wife and two young daughters, he pledged to continue outpatient therapy. “I’m proud to say that I’m hundreds of times healthier than I was…and I’m just looking forward to starting my new life, and moving on.”

Busold, who has a history of cocaine use, choked up during his statement.

“I want to apologize for my actions,” he said. “I was going through a rough time. It’s not an excuse, no reason for what I did. But my father did pass away, April 16 of last year. And I just didn’t deal with it too well.”

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