A Bridgewater Democrat running for a seat on the Governor’s Council, which is tasked with approving judges, served time in federal prison for an oxycodone distribution conspiracy charge handed down over 20 years ago, according to court documents.

Sean Michael Murphy, a 48-year-old decorated U.S. Navy veteran who runs a law firm, was indicted in June 2001 on possession with an intent to distribute and to distribute oxycodone in violation of federal law, court documents show.

He later struck an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to a single count of drug distribution conspiracy, according to court records.

He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, 500 hours of drug treatment, and three years of supervised release, according to court records.

Murphy was released from custody on April 4, 2004 and his sentence was shortened because of his participation in a federal drug rehabilitation program, according to Federal Bureau of Prison records and an account of his past found in his 2013 Massachusetts Bar application.

Murphy did not reply to multiple messages left over the past week at a phone number and email address listed in his Massachusetts campaign finance files. Phone calls to numbers found on his law firm’s website and a campaign social media page also went unanswered.

A message left with the person listed as Murphy’s campaign chair on state campaign finance filings also went unanswered.

In a statement to the Herald on Wednesday, Murphy said he regretted “the decisions of my past” and has since become a contributing member of society, a father of three, a youth sports coach, an active member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars society, and an attorney who undertakes “dozens” of pro bono cases each year.

“My story has been a conversation and cautionary tale for my oldest child, who is entering college in the fall. While it is unfortunate that this story has expedited the timeline of a similar conversation with my two young daughters, I can genuinely say my arrest saved my life,” Murphy said in the statement.

In a letter included in his 2013 Bar application, Murphy said he worked “diligently to turn my life around” after his release and is now a “family man.” The application also included multiple positive references from professors at his alma mater, Thomas Jefferson School of Law.

“My background offers no excuse for my past transgressions. I come from a very good family and had a happy childhood,” he wrote in the letter.

Murphy, who also abruptly resigned in 2020 from his role as interim city solicitor in Brockton, is one of four Democrats running to fill the Governor’s Council seat Robert Jubinville vacated when former Gov. Charlie Baker nominated him to serve as clerk-magistrate of the Framingham District Court.

The crowded Democratic field also includes David Reservitz, Tamisha Civil, Muriel Kramer, and Hunter Cohen. Francis Crimmins Jr., a retired judge, is running on the Republican side after most recently serving as the head of the state’s Ballot Law Commission.

The Herald confirmed Murphy’s guilty plea and prison sentence through publicly available court documents, federal prison records, and his Bar application, in which he laid out in detail the events that led up to his felony conviction and other criminal proceedings he was involved in.

A plea agreement with federal prosecutors in Boston signed by Murphy on Feb. 4, 2002 shows he admitted to a single count of drug distribution conspiracy. Lawyers said Murphy promptly accepted “personal responsibility for the offense(s) of conviction in the case,” a move that led them to ask a judge for lower penalties.

In his Bar application, Murphy said he was contacted by a person he already knew named Robert Connell and was “asked to distribute oxycodone.”

At the time, Connell had already been arrested by and was cooperating with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, according to the description of the events in Murphy’s Bar application.

Connell called Murphy on May 18, 2001 and Murphy “agreed to deliver money that was owed for drug transactions,” the Bar application said.

“I went to Connell’s residence and gave him $8,680. I was arrested and prosecuted for my ‘minor role’ in the distribution of 500 oxycodone tablets and 297 vials of ketamine,” Murphy wrote in the Bar application.

Connell and Murphy were indicted alongside three other individuals who were accused of participating in an oxycodone distribution ring that had ties in both Florida and Massachusetts and involved thousands of oxycodone tablets, according to federal court records from both states.

In the letter to the Massachusetts Bar, Murphy said after serving four years in the Navy from 1995 to 1999, he “still was not mature enough to handle adult life without supervision.” He said he formed a drug habit, engaged in heavy drinking, and partied, according to the letter.

“With no job and a growing drug habit, I began supplementing my income with drug dealing. My life was spinning out of control and I was more irresponsible than ever,” he wrote in the letter. “Finally, I was rescued in 2001 when I was arrested on drug conspiracy charges.”

While on release as his federal case played out in court, Murphy “violated his conditions of release by committing a crime, namely assault and battery, disorderly conduct and affray,” an officer with U.S. Pretrial Services wrote in a Nov. 20, 2001 letter to a federal magistrate judge.

He was arrested on Nov. 11, 2001 around 2:10 a.m. by Boston police “after they witnessed him chase after and assault another individual,” the letter said, a copy of which is available in Murphy’s federal court files.

“Mr. Murphy was released on a $100 bond and has a (Dec.) 6, 2001 court date at Brighton District Court,” the memo said. “I note that Mr. Murphy was arrested on (Oct.) 30, 2001 by the Braintree Police Department for operating a motor vehicle after suspension.”

In his letter, Murphy said a curfew initially imposed as part of his conditions of release had been lifted and he was out with co-workers at a bar in Brighton.

“I drank until I blacked out and, during that blackout, I apparently got into a fight,” he wrote. “I woke up in a Boston police station jail cell. I was under federal indictment, and I still was getting into trouble.”

Murphy said the assault charges were later dismissed “due to the mercy of the court” and an interaction with Boston police led to the “first time I admitted to myself that I was on the wrong path.”

In his statement to the Herald, Murphy said the federal judge “did not issue the harshest punishment” available at the time of his sentencing and afforded him an opportunity for treatment.

He said, “My story is a real-life testament to the impact good, reasonable judges can have on the lives of those who come before the court.”