3rd DC firefighter under federal investigation resigns

There is new information in the investigation into seven D.C. firefighters suspected of taking part in a oxycodone distribution ring. Three of the seven have now resigned from the department with the rest still off the street on paid administrative assignments.

Within the last three weeks, a lieutenant who had been on paid administrative duties and under investigation since last summer has resigned from the fire department.

Sources say he failed a drug test and was told he would be fired.

FOX 5 is not naming the now-former lieutenant because he has not been charged with a crime.

The scheme was first uncovered last year after investigators in Saint Mary's County, Md., searched the phone and computer of Henry Dent, another veteran lieutenant who resigned after being told he would be fired.

Multiple sources familiar with the case say it all began when Dent was arrested last March after trying to pass a fake prescription for oxycodone while dressed in his fire department uniform.

Sources say from there, the case took off when investigators started looking at the emails and text messages on his phone and computer -- allegedly tying in the other firefighters.

According to court documents, investigators with the Saint Mary's County Sheriff's Office and sources familiar with the investigation, Dent was passing fraudulent prescriptions for oxycodone at multiple pharmacies in the Washington metropolitan area until he was stopped leaving a southern Maryland pharmacy.

Now here's the twist -- Dent caught a break with prosecutors who dropped the charges after reviewing numerous documents they now believe to be fakes.

They are documents provided to the court by Dent -- an allegation Dent denies.

The state's attorney's office and investigators with the sheriff's office both confirm the investigation has been reopened and Dent may be facing additional charges.

Sources say all seven remain under investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District, which has been looking at the evidence since last July, but no charges have been filed.