Ex-Joliet police officer pleads not guilty to federal drug-trafficking charges

A former Joliet police officer has pleaded not guilty to federal drug-trafficking charges, and a judge released him from custody after he surrendered to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

On Wednesday, William Busse, 41, of Homer Glen was arraigned on charges in a federal indictment that accuses Busse of engaging in drug trafficking in Lockport, Orland Park and Chicago.

The investigation was assisted by the Chicago High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force, which fights drug trafficking in Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kendall, Lake and Will counties.

Busse faces up to 20 years in prison for each of the six counts.

The judge on Busse’s case is U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, who was nominated for the position in 2013 by former U.S. President Barack Obama.

“I will tell you candidly the charges in this indictment are serious,” Ellis told Busse at the arraignment.

After Busse was arrested twice on domestic battery charges in 2019, retired Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner recommended his firing. Instead of being fired outright, Busse and the city worked out a settlement agreement to end his employment June 4, 2021.

The federal indictment accuses Busse of committing drug offenses between Jan. 13, 2021, and April 7, 2021, when he would’ve still been employed as a Joliet police officer.

Besides working as a police officer, Busse has appeared in a few TV shows, such as “Empire” and “Chicago Fire,” according to the Internet Movie Database. “Empire” was once filmed at the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet.

Joseph Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said Busse “self-surrendered” Wednesday to the DEA.

Busse was wearing his own clothes and was not in handcuffs when he was brought into Ellis’ courtroom.

Busse found himself sitting alone in a desk chair in Ellis’ courtroom for about 15 minutes as he waited for the arrival of his attorney, Amy Seamann. She has represented Busse in his Will County domestic battery case.

When Seamann came into the courtroom, she apologized to Ellis for her tardiness and told the judge that Busse will plead not guilty to the drug-trafficking charges.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Beth Palmer said there was an agreement between both parties on Busse’s conditions for pretrial release. However, Palmer said Busse’s domestic battery case in Will County was “concerning” to their office.

Palmer asked Ellis to order Busse to obey all conditions of his bond in his Will County case.

Last year, a Will County jury found Busse guilty of four counts of misdemeanor domestic battery of his ex-wife in 2019 in New Lenox.

On Sept. 5, Will County Judge John Connor dismissed one of the counts after Seamann filed a motion that claimed Busse’s trial was afflicted by “reversible errors,” such as “abhorrent” conduct by a “few select jurors.”

Seamann’s motion said a few jurors were discussing the case before the trial finished, and they reached a conclusion before all of the evidence was presented.

Seamann’s motion also claimed that prosecutors failed to prove their case because Busse’s ex-wife testified that she made up stories about Busse abusing her.

In 2019, his ex-wife petitioned several protective orders against Busse that alleged verbal abuse, physical abuse, death threats and that he “knows how to intimidate and manipulate me.”

Busse is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 7. His three remaining domestic battery convictions are punishable by up to a year in jail.

Seamann told Ellis that she expects to file motions to vacate the other domestic battery counts. She assured the judge that Busse will abide by his Will County bond conditions.

“I don’t believe that is going to be concern,” Seamann said.

Ellis told Busse that she wanted him to get a mental health assessment and follow the recommendations of that assessment if there is a need to do so. Ellis said she was highly concerned about the domestic battery case involving his ex-wife.

“I do not want to see any more arrests, any more cases, anything involving domestic violence with your wife, your ex-wife or kids,” Ellis said.

Ellis told Busse she is a believer of consequences and that he needs to abide by his pretrial release conditions, which she said were not “onerous.”

“You drive the bus, and wherever that bus goes, that’s where you decide it to go,” Ellis said.