A sergeant in a beleaguered sheriff’s department was ordered held on $1,000 bail yesterday after facing a judge for drug charges.
Michael Dell’Isola, 51, of Somerville, was arrested Monday afternoon and charged with trafficking cocaine, authorities said.
An internal investigation was conducted after receiving an anonymous tip about the deputy sheriff who worked at the Cambridge jail.
During his arraignment in Woburn District Court yesterday, a judge ordered Dell’Isola to stay away from the sheriff’s department.
The investigation concluded Monday when an undercover state trooper delivered cocaine and $500 to Dell’Isola in Woburn, authorities said.
Dell’Isola, an employee with the sheriff’s office for 28 years, was suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.
Dell’Isola accepted the drugs “in violation of the public trust placed in all employees who engage in the care, custody and control of prisoners,” Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone said in a statement.
The arrest comes as the recently appointed leader of the sheriff’s department tries to right the agency. Former sheriff James DiPaola killed himself last year after news reports that he planned to collect a pension and his salary at the same time using a state loophole.
Earlier this year, three department employees were fined after an ethics investigation.
