Nine people, including two Downers Grove residents, have been charged in connection with a drug ring spanning the western suburbs after a six month investigation by local and federal law enforcement agencies.

The leader of the group was Marc Mueller, 30, of Palatine, authorities said. He was arrested in July after making a bomb threat at the DuPage County Courthouse and attempting to bribe a sheriff’s deputy to get out of trouble.

While Mueller was released after posting bail on those charges, he was arrested on the new drug charges at the courthouse Aug. 11, when he appeared for a hearing.

The drug ring allegedly dealt marijuana, ecstasy and cocaine. The conspiracy was uncovered after names that surfaced in a Downers Grove police investigation caught the attention of the DuPage Metropolitan Enforcement Group, known as DUMEG, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“A couple of the names Downers Grove had were familiar with ATF and some other agencies around here,” said Jim Kuchta, director of DUMEG.

The agencies then launched a long-term investigation involving undercover officers and “hours and hours” of surveillance, Kuchta said.

On Thursday,  a DuPage grand jury indicted the following people:

• Mueller was charged with five counts of conspiracy to commit delivery of marijuana, two counts of conspiracy to commit possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, two counts of armed violence, possession of marijuana and delivery of marijuana.

• Jennifer Neapolitan, 25, 129 Mellbrook Road, Bolingbrook, was charged with delivery of a controlled substance, six counts of conspiracy to commit delivery of marijuana, three counts of delivery of marijuana and conspiracy to commit possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

• Her sister, Laura Neapolitan, 22, 1212 Barneswood Drive, Downers Grove, was charged with delivery of between 500 and 2,000 grams of marijuana.

• Giovanni Ochoa, 31, 110 Oakleaf Drive, Addison, was charged with delivery of between 15 and 200 tablets of ecstasy, possession of a firearm by a felon and unlawful sale of a firearm.

• Richard Martinello, 32, 457 Jennifer Court, Wood Dale, was charged with delivery of between 15 and 200 tablets of ecstasy and unlawful sale of a firearm.

• John Paul Burgos, 25, 1160 Valley View Drive, Downers Grove, was charged with possession of between 500 and 2,000 grams of marijuana with intent to deliver.

• Risely Buchanan, 22, of Justice, was charged with possession between 500 and 2,000 grams of marijuana with intent to deliver.

• Jeremy Montez, 27, 2705 Rosewood Court, Woodridge, was charged with possession of between 30 and 500 grams of marijuana with intent to deliver.

• Juan Ramirez, 29, 570 Miner Drive, Bolingbrook, was charged with possession of less than 15 grams cocaine with intent to deliver.

Kuchta, the DUMEG director, said the length of the investigation helped unravel the conspiracy.

“In a long-term investigation ... you start to find out who all the associates are,” he said. “It was just because we stayed with the investigation for a long period of time that we were able to find the links between the people involved.”

The group was strictly a drug-dealing ring and does not appear to have any gang affiliation, Kuchta said. He declined to comment on whether the investigation is ongoing.