Wrenn resigns as Swampscott police officer

SWAMPSCOTT – Less than a month after he was arrested by the Drug Enforcement Agency for allegedly dealing narcotics, Swampscott police officer Thomas Wrenn has resigned.Town Administrator Andrew Maylor confirmed Tuesday that Wrenn submitted a written resignation late last week.”I can’t comment beyond that,” Maylor said.The DEA arrested Wrenn, 37, of 17 Prospect St., Nahant, March 13 in Lynn and charged him with possession with intent to distribute Oxycodone.On March 16, Wrenn was suspended for five days without pay by Chief Ronald Madigan and placed on unpaid administrative leave. Last week selectmen voted to hold a disciplinary hearing, which has not yet been scheduled, to consider additional action against Wrenn.Maylor said the hearing will not go forward because Wrenn has resigned.”He is no longer an employee,” Maylor said. “So there is no need for the (selectmen) to take further action.”Madigan confirmed Wrenn resigned voluntarily, but declined further comment because the investigation is still ongoing.During a hearing in U.S. District Court in Boston March 14, Wrenn pleaded innocent to possession with intent to distribute Oxycodone and was released on a $15,000 bond.The criminal complaint against Wrenn, which was filed in federal court March 13, alleges Wrenn purchased Percocet pills – a form of Oxycodone – over a period of months beginning in the fall of 2006.According to the affidavit, Wrenn allegedly routinely consumed Percocet and cocaine and, in some instances, 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 Swampscott Police.According to the affidavit, Madigan confronted Wrenn a few days later and asked him to submit to a drug test in order to dispel the allegation but Wrenn refused.Wrenn, who earned $97,000 last year and lives in a $634,000 home, received a court appointed attorney. Attorney Tracy Miner, who is with the firm of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo, was appointed to represent Wrenn. Miner represented former FBI agent John Connolly a few years ago. At his earlier hearing, Wrenn was ordered by the court to surrender his passport and weapons. He is also required to submit to random drug testing and ordered not to leave eastern Massachusetts or sail more than a mile offshore. He was also instructed not to have any contact with any witnesses in the case.