GREENWICH (AP) — A former Connecticut police officer has been charged with giving guns to a convicted felon who had helped him buy heroin, federal prosecutors said.

Joseph Ryan, a former Greenwich police officer, was arrested Friday and released on $100,000 bond after a brief court appearance.

An email seeking comment was sent to Ryan's attorney Saturday.

Ryan came under scrutiny after authorities used a confidential informant to buy guns from another man, Malique Martin, and found that three of the guns were the same ones of which Ryan had taken custody at the Ansonia Police Department in April 2019, according to court documents.

The guns had been seized from a home in Ansonia in April 2018 and taken to the Ansonia police department for safekeeping, officials said.

Ryan, who was a Greenwich police officer at the time, took custody of the guns at the police department by producing a valid pistol permit and paperwork documenting the sale of the firearms to him, court documents say.

Authorities say their investigation found that Ryan had given the guns to a man he knew was a convicted felon and that man then gave some of those firearms to Martin, who was under federal investigation.

The felon told authorities that he had served as a facilitator in heroin transactions between Ryan and his now-dead supplier and that he got the guns from Ryan after the officer took them from the police department.

Martin pleaded guilty in January to federal charges, including dealing firearms without a license, and is awaiting sentencing.