Former Joliet police officer William Busse III has been indicted on federal drug trafficking charges for allegedly distributing cocaine, methamphetamine and attempting to distribute fentanyl in the Chicago area.
The Homer Glen resident distributed cocaine and methamphetamine in Chicago in 2021, and attempted to distribute cocaine and fentanyl in Orland Park and Lockport the same year, according to an indictment returned last week in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
Busse, 41, was charged with six counts of distribution and attempted distribution of controlled substances. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each count, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
On March 10, 2023, a jury found Busse guilty of four counts of domestic violence in New Lenox in 2019, but not guilty of fleeing police while being placed in a patrol car, court records show. Busse’s attorney filed a motion for a new trial, which will be considered and decided by a Will County judge on Sept. 5 at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet.
Busse was a patrol officer with the Joliet Police Department from 2013 to 2021, according to Public Affairs Sergeant Dwayne English.
English said he doesn’t know why Busse left, but said there was a separation agreement with the department at the time Busse was facing domestic violence charges.
“I know it was an agreement, you know, it wasn’t a termination,” he said.
The federal investigation was conducted with the assistance of the Chicago High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force, a group of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies that work together to identify and dismantle drug trafficking operations.
Busse could not be reached for comment.
smoilanen@chicagotribune.com
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