Ex-Joliet Cop Distributed Cocaine, Fentanyl Around Area: Feds

JOLIET — The U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago issued a press release on Friday announcing that ex-Joliet police officer Bill Busse has been indicted on federal drug trafficking charges for allegedly distributing cocaine and attempting to distribute fentanyl in Lockport, the city of Chicago and Orland Park.

The indictment indicates that Busse, a Homer Glen resident, committed the drug-dealing crimes during 2021.

Back in February 2020, Joliet Patch published a story indicating that then-Police Chief Al Roechner was recommending Busse's firing from the Joliet Police Department after two different arrests by nearby police agencies on charges of domestic violence against Busse's ex-wife.

According to Friday's press release, Busse distributed cocaine and methamphetamine in the Chicago area in 2021, according to an indictment returned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Busse also attempted to distribute cocaine and fentanyl in the Chicago suburbs that same year, the indictment states.

The indictment charges Busse, 41, with distribution and attempted distribution of controlled substances. Each of the six counts in the indictment is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.

According to the indictment, Busse distributed substances containing a detectable amount of cocaine in Lockport in January and February 2021. He's also accused of distributing fentanyl in Orland Park in February 2021.

The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Sheila G. Lyons, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and Ruth M. Mendonça, Inspector-in-Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Beth E. Palmer.

The investigation was conducted with the support of the Chicago High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force. The task force comprises federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies who work together to identify, disrupt, and dismantle drug trafficking operations