BRIDGEPORT - In US District Court on July 5, Raymond J. Martin, 50, of Easton, a former Easton Police Commission member, was sentenced by US Magistrate Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons to three years of probation and a $10,000 fine for his role in steroid distribution ring, which was headed by former Newtown police sergeant Steven Santucci.

According to court documents and statements made in court, a long-term investigation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Homeland Security Investigations revealed that Santucci and others were receiving shipments of steroid ingredients from China and manufacturing and distributing wholesale quantities of steroids. Certain members of that conspiracy also distributed prescription pills, including oxycodone, as well as cocaine. The drug ring included 12 men.

During the investigation, Martin was intercepted on a court-authorized wiretap ordering anabolic steroids and offering to sell oxycodone pills. At that time, Martin served as an Easton Police Commission member.

Federal authorities arrested Martin on July 14, 2015. In March, Martin pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance.

Santucci pleaded guilty to charges and on August 25, 2016, Santucci was sentenced to 16 months of imprisonment to be followed by six months of home confinement, and 120 hours of community service, plus a $5,000 fine.

During the course of the drug ring investigation, law enforcement officers seized hundreds of vials of steroids, approximately 600 grams of raw testosterone powder, more than 1,000 oxycodone pills, approximately 350 grams of powder cocaine, and four long guns.

On July 11, Santucci was listed as a prisoner at Gilmer Federal Correctional Institution in Glenvville, W.Va. He is scheduled to be released from prison on December 7, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Another convicted member of the drug ring, Jason Chickos, 48, who is a former dispatcher at the Newtown Emergency Communications Center, at his sentencing in January 2016, received two years' probation, a $1,000 fine, and 120 hours of community service.

The US Marshals Service, US Postal Inspection Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted in the drug investigation.