December 17, 2011 -- Updated 0228 GMT (1028 HKT)
Sam Hurd joined the Chicago Bears in July after playing with the Dallas Cowboys for five seasons
Sam Hurd joined the Chicago Bears in July after playing with the Dallas Cowboys for five seasons.NEW: Sam Hurd is released on $100,000 bailThe Chicago Bears wide receiver was arrested on drug charges WednesdayOfficials accuse Hurd of trying to set up a drug distribution networkHe accepted a kilogram of cocaine from an undercover agent, they say
(CNN) -- The Chicago Bears waived wide receiver Sam Hurd on Friday, two days after federal authorities arrested him on charges of conspiring to possess and distribute cocaine.
Hurd, 26, was arrested Wednesday at a Chicago restaurant, where he accepted cocaine from an undercover U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.
Authorities say he was trying to set up a drug distribution network in Chicago, having allegedly expressed interest in getting a supplier to sell him hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cocaine and marijuana per week, and that Hurd was a target of a five-month investigation in Dallas, where he once played for the Cowboys.
"We are very shocked about what we heard," Bears General Manager Jerry Angelo said Friday while announcing Hurd's release from the NFL team's roster.
Hurd was freed from custody Friday after a judge in Chicago granted him a $100,000 cash bond, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago.
His attorney, Brett Greenfield, said Hurd had waived his preliminary hearing, and that a grand jury will now decide whether to indict him. The case will be handled by a federal court in the northern district of Texas, where the criminal complaint was filed this week.
Greenfield said Hurd's frame of mind is confident, and that there is a "very high level of relief" that he is out of custody.
The complaint says that Hurd met with an ICE undercover agent at a restaurant in Chicago on Wednesday night. A confidential informant with whom Hurd had communicated previously also attended the meeting, according to the complaint.
He was interested in buying 5 to 10 kilograms of cocaine, at $25,000 per kilogram, and 1,000 pounds of marijuana at $450 per pound, per week for distribution in the Chicago area, according to ICE.
Hurd said that "he and another co-conspirator currently distribute about 4 kilograms of cocaine per week in Chicago, but that his supplier couldn't supply him with enough quantity," Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said.
After they finished negotiating, Hurd accepted a kilogram of cocaine from the undercover agent, according to the complaint.
"Hurd stated that he plays for the Chicago Bears and that he gets out of practice at about 5:30 p.m., after which he would make arrangements to pay for the kilogram of cocaine," ICE officials said in a news release.
"Hurd left the restaurant with the bag of cocaine and was arrested shortly thereafter in the parking lot of the restaurant."
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.
Hurd, a sixth-year NFL player out of Northern Illinois University, joined the Bears in July after playing with the Cowboys for five seasons.
Angelo, the Bears' general manager, said Friday that team research on Hurd turned up no red flags before he signed in July, according to the Bears' website.
"We spend an inordinate amount of time on character, making sure we know the player as well as we can," Angelo said. "But no system is foolproof. For me to sit here and say that we should have known something that we didn't know, I can't say that in this case. There's no foundation for anybody to say that."
Though Hurd has only eight catches for 109 yards in this season's first 13 games, he contributed in other ways. He has long been a special teams force, leading the Cowboys in special teams tackles in 2009 and 2010.
CNN's Karan Olson, Jim Barnett, Bill Kirkos and Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report.
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