A press release from the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office:
FORMER HEBRON POLICE OFFICER RYSZARD KOPACZ SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS FOR AGGRAVATED POSSESSION OF STOLEN FIREARMS AND OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT
Louis A. Bianchi, McHenry County State’s Attorney, announces that Ryszard Kopacz, 32, of Wonder Lake was sentenced to four years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for aggravated possession of stolen firearms and official misconduct.
Ryszard Kopacz
The defendant was convicted of aggravated possession of stolen firearms after a bench trial on August 25, 2015.
The evidence presented at trial showed that the defendant was formerly a police Sergeant with the village of Hebron.
The defendant was terminated from the department for budgetary reasons.
Subsequent to his termination the Illinois State Police executed a search warrant on his home.
Inside they discovered three firearms that were stolen from the Hebron Police Department’s evidence vault.
The defendant was interviewed by Special Agent Herbert “Skip” Hogberg III of the F.B.I. and he admitted to stealing the firearms.
The defendant pled guilty to official misconduct on December 28, 2015 just prior to the start of his sentencing hearing.
At the sentencing hearing, the evidence presented showed that the defendant was hired by the Richmond Police Department shortly after his termination from Hebron.
The defendant was terminated for failure to report for duty.
After his termination Richmond Police Chief Ciro Cetrangolo was contacted by several elderly members of the community who advised that officer Kopacz had come to their home and complained of a toothache and asked them for pain medication.
The citizens were alarmed by the behavior and concerned for their safety.
This lead to an investigation into Kopacz by the F.B.I., which resulted in Special Agent Hogberg learning from a confidential informant that Kopacz had been delivering marijuana while on duty and in uniform while working for the Hebron Police Department.
Hogberg interviewed the defendant and he admitted that he delivered marijuana while he was working as a Hebron Police Officer.
This case was prosecuted by Michael Combs and Kyle Bruett of the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office.
This matter was investigated by the Richmond Police Department, the Illinois State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Corrupt, stupid AND a sergeant on top of it.
How the hell does this happen ?
Corruption and cover-up is all to common with LEOs in far too many municipalities.
One down, many more to go.
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BTW – don’t drop the soap.
It doesn’t take much to get promoted in a town with less than 10 officers
I happens Fox lake Chicago bad cops they are sneaky but they get caught.
Not all cops are bad.
Like any profession there are a few bad apples.
What he did was stupid he just pissed his courier away and for what?
a couple bucks.
its true we look to the police to be a higher standard.
same with Priest Doctors.
When they do some thing wrong it is shocking.
I am glad he is caught, along with others that break the law.
There was NO cover up.
No cover-up?
Explain this statement:
Hebron cut all full time officers due to the budget.
This officer was not charged with any thing till after he was hired in Richmond.
Charges for the missing guns and drugs happened after he was gone from Hebron.
NO COVER UP!!
The missing guns was noticed after he left and the person that came forward about the marijuana came forward after he was gone from Hebron again NO COVER UP!!!
Fired for “budgetary reasons”. Ha-ha-ha…..
What a piece of Work this one is…. and in a public servant position how does one continue to get away with this conduct and no one around to follow up !
no one watching the dogs!
I wonder if he knew Gliniewicz ?
Cops are human just like us well they’re not just like us they lie they cheat and they steal most of us work hard for our money.
Nothing’s better than a cop delivering weed in uniform and in a patrol car I fucking love it.
Prison sucks pig.drug dealers have home security systems and are watching you when you are in their house.
But turning the tapes over to crooked cops goes nowhere
I guess thanks for taking money and drugs off the street just to put back on the street
thanks cops
obviously I am all for marijuana reform law
get high not drunk
you don’t ever see a house full of Stoners fighting
get a house full of drunks or crackheads they’re fighting