HARTFORD - A judge in US District Court on Thursday, August 25, sentenced a former Newtown police sergeant to a prison term, house arrest, probation, a fine, and community service for his role as the ringleader of a group involved in the manufacturing and distribution of wholesale quantities of anabolic steroids.

Judge Robert Chatigny sentenced Steven Santucci, 40, of Waterbury, to 16 months of imprisonment, to be followed by two years of probation, the first six months of which will be in the form of house arrest. Santucci also received a $5,000 fine and will be required to perform 120 hours of community service while on probation.

According to a statement from US Attorney Deirdre Daly, a long-term investigation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Homeland Security Investigations, assisted by the US Marshals Service, US Postal Inspection Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, revealed that Santucci and others were receiving shipments of steroid ingredients from China and manufacturing and distributing the drugs. The investigation also revealed that certain members of the conspiracy were distributing prescription pills, including oxycodone, as well as cocaine.

Santucci used more than $120,000 in proceeds from the sale of anabolic steroids to wire payments to foreign sellers of ingredients needed to make liquid anabolic steroids, and to purchase drug packaging materials from domestic companies. Also, between April 2011 and November 2014, Santucci charged more than $300,000 on two personal credit cards, including more than $100,000 to pay for various luxury vacations.

Santucci was arrested on April 29, 2015, and on December 9, 2015, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids and one count of conspiracy to launder money. Santucci had earlier faced eight felonies, including six drug charges and two money laundering charges.

Judge Chatigny ordered Santucci to report to federal prison on October 10. Santucci is free on $100,000 bail.

The maximum sentence for the two felony convictions is 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The steroids charge carries a maximum penalty of ten years' imprisonment and a $500,000 fine. Conspiracy to launder money carries a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment and a $500,000 fine.

Federal sentencing guidelines that pertain to Santucci's case indicate the appropriate sentence to be somewhere between 57 months and 71 months of prison time, a fine of some amount between $10,000 and $100,000, and probation following the prison sentence that would last for some period between two years and life. However, the presiding federal judge is not bound by those terms and may hand down some other sentence, either stricter or more lenient. Recently, Santucci's attorney asked that he receive a lenient sentence. The prosecutor had asked for a "serious" sentence.

Santucci joined the Newtown Police Department in November 2000, was promoted to the rank of sergeant in January 2012, and resigned in April 2015, after being arrested on the multiple drug charges. He started the illegal drug activity in 2009, according to federal investigators.

Federal authorities have described him as the ringleader of a 12-man anabolic steroids manufacturing and distribution network, which also involved Jason Chickos, 47, of Bridgeport, a former civilian dispatcher for Newtown emergency services.

Chickos pleaded guilty to a felony drug charge and in January was sentenced to two years of probation, community service, and a $1,000 fine.

During the course of the investigation, law enforcement officers seized hundreds of vials of steroids, approximately 600 grams of raw testosterone powder, approximately 350 grams of powder cocaine, and several firearms.