Swampscott cop nabbed for dealing drugs

SWAMPSCOTT – The Drug Enforcement Agency has charged a Swampscott police officer with distributing Percocet.Officer Thomas C. Wrenn, 37, of 17 Prospect St., Nahant was arrested late Thursday night in Lynn and was charged in a criminal complaint with possession with intent to distribute oxycodone.Wrenn, who has been employed by the Swampscott Police Department since 1998, was arrested Thursday night by DEA agents acting in concert with the Swampscott Police after he purchased a quantity of Percocet pills from one of his regular suppliers. He was later released on $5,000 cash bail and $10,000 unsecured bond.According to a press release from U.S. Attorney Michael J. Sullivan’s Office, federal agents knew of the planned transaction and took Wrenn into custody shortly after he took possession of 50 tabs of Percocet from a dealer.The affidavit also details a party at the Wrenn home in Nahant where Wrenn, who on numerous occasions referred to Percocet and Vicodin as “Pez,” used a toy belonging to his child to dispense the pills.”Wrenn jokingly loaded his child’s candy Pez dispenser with Percocet or Vicodin pills and then dispensed the pills from the toy Pez dispenser,” the affidavit reads.According to the affidavit, a Batman Pez dispenser was found in his police locker and a second Pez dispenser was found in a bag in his bedroom.In a criminal complaint filed in federal court on Thursday, the government alleges that Wrenn purchased Percocet pills, which are a form of oxycodone, over a period of months beginning in the fall of 2006.According to the affidavit, Wrenn allegedly routinely consumed Percocet pills and cocaine and in some instances he did so while in uniform.According to the affidavit from DEA Special Agent Dennis A. Barton, allegations of Wrenn’s drug use and distribution first came to light in January 2007 when a confidential informant reported Wrenn’s drug habits to the Swampscott Police Department.Authorities say Swampscott Police Chief Ronald Madigan confronted Wrenn a few days after being contacted by the informant and asked him to submit to a drug test “in order to dispel the allegation.” Wrenn refused to take a drug test and he claimed he had been taking pain killers for recent dental work, the affidavit says.The affidavit states on Jan. 24, 2008, Madigan introduced a DEA Special Agent to an individual, who has become a cooperating witness. The witness provided the agent with information on Wrenn’s drug activities for the past 15 months.According to the affidavit, there was one incident in which Wrenn was in uniform after completing a police detail in Swampscott when he got into his yellow Hummer SUV and negotiated a large drug purchase.Wrenn also distributed a quantity of Percocet pills to a former Nahant Police Officer and a young woman in connection with a romantic liaison, authorities say.In addition to being a police officer, Wrenn also holds an appointment as a Deputy Sheriff for Essex County. Before he started working for the Swampscott Police Department, Wrenn was employed by the Swampscott Public Schools as a custodian.