In Detroit, to Find the Biggest Crooks, Look to the Highest Offices: Judge Carlos Powell Charged with Being City’s Drug Kingpin

 

Carlos Powell (U.S. Marshal’s Office)

[Of related interest, from WEJB/NSU:

“Detroit’s Gangster Mayor Reportedly to Accept Plea Today: Kilpatrick Era Over … for Now”;

“Justice, Detroit-Style: Is Black Judge Vanessa Bradley a Racist? Do Cows Fart?”;

“(Kwame) Kilpatrick Enterprise” in Detroit: Most Corrupt Municipal Administration Anyone Had Ever Seen”;

“Carlita Kilpatrick, Wife of Convicted Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Fights Paying One Dime of the $1 Million Restitution He Agreed to, as Part of His Plea-Bargain”; and

“Feds Declare War on Detroit’s Gangster mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, Charge Him with Everything but the Murder of Tamara Greene.”]
 

By Nicholas Stix

Forget it, Jake, it’s Detroit.

One of the countless ways in which whites and blacks differ is that whites think the point of the criminal justice system is its stated purpose: To punish malefactors, and protect the law-abiding public. Conversely, most blacks see the criminal justice system as the greatest opportunity yet to engage in crime, because one may do so under color of law, and thus, they believe, a license to kill.

Thus, when Al Sharpton or a similar black supremacist criminal leads his followers in chants of “No justice, no peace,” although the immediate meaning is clear—‘Surrender to us what we demand or we will riot and pillage’—there is a deeper absurdity. That absurdity is that “black justice” is an oxymoron. Racist blacks condemn “white justice,” but they are merely projecting their own racism onto whites. For black justice, one may look to sub-Saharan Africa, Detroit … or anywhere blacks rule.

The comments thread for this article at The Detroit News was dominated by black supremacists with IQs in the minus range, but the following comment stood out:

• Ronald Embree • Top Commenter • John F. Kennedy High School

"During the probe, the feds have seized more than $21 million in cash, 66 pounds of heroin, 12 kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana. The size, scope and profits of Powell's alleged drug ring would rank him among the most prolific drug dealers in recent Detroit hist"- AND THE JUDGE RELEASES HIM ON A $50,000 UNSECURED BOND? Can anyone help me out here......i'm a bit confused. I don't quite understand. Is it just me or is something definitely wrong with this picture. Like those practice exercises in kindergarten and 1st grade when you had to circle what was wrong, like a flock of turtles or an elephant sitting at the top of a tree, you know - stuff that was so obviously wrong a 1st grader would notice it.

* * *

Feds charge alleged leader of Metro Detroit drug ring, former state rep.
By Robert Snell
February 1, 2012 at 4:37 p.m.
The Detroit News
34 Comments

Detroit— A judge freed on $50,000 unsecured bond Wednesday an alleged leader of an international drug ring that is accused of peddling hundreds of kilograms of heroin, cocaine and marijuana.

Carlos Powell, who was arrested early Wednesday following a multi-year investigation, must wear a global-positioning device and adhere to a curfew. Powell, 37, declined comment after standing mute to charges in federal court that could send him to prison for life.

One of Powell's alleged associates, former state Rep. Ken Daniels, D-Detroit, also was freed on bond.

During the probe, the feds have seized more than $21 million in cash, 66 pounds of heroin, 12 kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana. The size, scope and profits of Powell's alleged drug ring would rank him among the most prolific drug dealers in recent Detroit history.

"This surpasses everybody," said Carl Taylor, a criminologist at Michigan State University who has studied drug trafficking in Detroit. "That's very scary. That's a lot of heroin and a tremendous amount of cash, particularly at this time."
Powell and 11 others were charged in an indictment unsealed Wednesday in federal court.

Daniels, who also was charged in the indictment Wednesday, declined comment.

His lawyer, Tom Jakuc, said Daniels was a victim of circumstances.

"The circumstances as set forth in the indictment can be readily explained," Jakuc said, though he declined to elaborate. "This is truly out of character for a person of his standing and reputation."

Daniels was appointed by ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to the board overseeing the city's water department, which Kilpatrick is accused of corrupting while allegedly orchestrating a multimillion-dollar scheme to rig bids and extort money.

Powell, 37, allegedly headed a large-scale drug operation that has ties to Grosse Pointe, Ann Arbor, Detroit, West Bloomfield Township and Chicago, according to federal court records and interviews.

Powell's lawyer, N.C. Deday LaRene, declined comment.

"I'm not going to have anything to say about this," LaRene said.

The case against Powell is outlined in search warrant records and a Justice Department forfeiture complaint filed in federal court.

Besides the cash and drugs, the feds have seized a fleet of expensive boats and vehicles, including two Bentleys and a Ferrari, according to court records and interviews.The 66 pounds of heroin, meanwhile, roughly equals a quarter of the heroin seized by the DEA two years ago in Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky."We are focused on dismantling major drug trafficking organizations that bring illegal drugs into our community," U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said in a statement.

"We want young people to see that the lucrative rewards from drug trafficking are short-lived and lead to criminal charges."

Daniels represented Detroit in the state House from 1999 to 2004 and served on the Detroit Board of Education.

Daniels was charged with aiding and abetting the structuring of financial transactions. The indictment says Daniels purchased two cashier's checks in September 2010 from area banks, which were used to buy a 2007 Mercedes for Powell.
The charge is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Daniels was involved in a controversy in 2008 after the Kilpatrick administration and City Council awarded a $10 million photocopier contract to a company owned by Daniels, who was a former state House colleague of the mayor's.

Daniels won the contract despite not being authorized to sell or service the copiers involved.

The City Council later voted to rescind the deal.

Federal agents have spent at least 23 months investigating Powell. The probe was revealed in a forfeiture complaint filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Beck in December 2010 that summarizes the seizures and describes an alleged drug and money-laundering operation.

Since March 2010, agents involved in the Powell investigation have executed at least 16 search and seizure warrants across Metro Detroit.

On June 23, 2010, agents seized 13 kilograms of heroin in Ann Arbor.

Five days later, they seized $260,000 in Charlotte, southwest of Lansing.

In July 2010, investigators seized $5 million and 10 kilograms of heroin in Chicago.

Michigan State Police troopers found $2.2 million in cash after stopping a Chicago-bound vehicle along Interstate 94 in Calhoun County in September 2010.

A month later, investigators seized $2 million and 12 kilograms of cocaine during a traffic stop along westbound Interstate 94 in Calhoun County.

The traffic stop involved a 2010 Toyota Avalon driven by California resident Margarita Vallejo, who admitted being involved in transporting money. She told investigators she flew from California to Chicago, rented the car and drove to an Ann Arbor hotel, according to federal court records.

A man arrived at her hotel room, placed suitcases in the Toyota's trunk, and she was instructed to deliver the suitcases to Chicago. Vallejo was charged with a federal drug crime in October.

The feds also have executed raids in Grosse Pointe, West Bloomfield Township, Detroit and northern Macomb County and obtained cell phone wiretaps.

"The seizure of more than 20 kilos of heroin from one group operating in Michigan is significant," DEA Special Agent in Charge Robert Corso said in a statement. "This should serve as clear evidence that the growing opiate/heroin abuse problem in SE Michigan is real, and is being addressed."

The probe has uncovered evidence of money laundering.

In December 2010, federal prosecutors asked a judge to order Powell's luxury condominium in a hip area of Atlanta forfeited to the government. The condo was purchased with proceeds from the drug ring, Beck wrote in the forfeiture complaint.
Little is known about Powell, who was convicted of operating while intoxicated last year and has a juvenile record, according to pretrial services.

He is president of an Eastpointe-based company called Grand Towers Inc., which was incorporated in May 2000, according to court records.

The company's purpose is unclear and not identified in state records.

Federal court records offer insight into the probe and chronicle Powell's lifestyle.

Powell spent more than $750,000 on big-ticket assets, according to court records. And he never needed financing or a mortgage.

He spent $107,000 on a Bentley Continental, $25,000 on a 43-foot Sea Ray boat, $22,000 for a Harley Davidson and $173,000 on a home in West Bloomfield Township, according to the feds. And thousands more on diamond jewelry.

Most of it has been seized.

In all, the feds are seeking criminal forfeiture of more than $800,000 worth of jewelry, eight properties in Michigan and Georgia worth more than $750,000, 10 vehicles — including a 2004 Rolls Royce, 2006 and 2008 Bentleys, a 2006 Ferrari, four Mercedes, a Ranger Rover — and two boats.

"These drug organizations that make their money while poisoning our children and destroying our neighborhoods will be thoroughly investigated," IRS Special Agent in Charge Erick Martinez said Wednesday in a statement. "IRS will ruin their ability to make money on our streets"

The allegations and big-ticket items draw comparisons to Detroit's infamous drug dealers.

Members of the Detroit gang Young Boys Inc., the pioneering heroin ring of the late 1970s and 1980s, spent lavishly on cars and jewelry and drew attention in predominantly white, upper-class suburbs, said Taylor, the drug trafficking expert from Michigan State.

"The big rollers, they wanted to take on the Tony Montana image. Look at 'Scarface' and the big house and big pool," Taylor said. "They think they can do that undercover. But all you do is draw fire, and you're going to catch hell."

The largest seizures happened Nov. 17, 2010.

That's when agents raided a $458,000 house linked to Powell in the northern Macomb County community of Washington Township.

The 3,244-square-foot home north of 26 Mile was one stop in several coordinated raids executed by drug agents that day that yielded more than $8 million in cash and seven kilograms of heroin.

The feds found more than $2.9 million at two homes owned by Powell and $5 million plus another five kilograms of heroin at an alleged "stash house" used by Powell, according to court records.

The heroin seized during the Powell raids sends a clear signal, Taylor said.

"This certainly signals heroin is not making a comeback, it means heroin is back," he said.

rsnell@detnews.com

(313) 222-2028
 

Drug ring defendants

The U.S. Attorney’s Office unsealed an indictment Wednesday naming 12 people in connection with a heroin ring. They are:

—Carlos Ellis Powell, 37, of Washington Township
—Eric Jerome Powell, 34, of Franklin Farms
—Ignacio Avalos, 21, of Phoenix, Ariz.
—Kenneth Robert Daniels, 53, of Detroit
—Earnest Lee Proge Jr., 36, of Detroit
—Tobias John Proge, 28, of Clinton Township
—Dwayne Rnay Taylor, 35, of Detroit
—Tamika Olivia Turner, 34, of Eastpointe
—Juan Valle, 59, of Coldwater
—Margarita Lopez DeVallejo, 39, of LaHabla, Calif.
—Benny Bernard Whigham, 34, of Detroit
—Donald Lee Wilson, 49, of Parkland, Fla.

 

[From WEJB/NSU’s Detroit File:

“Detroit’s Gangster Mayor Reportedly to Accept Plea Today: Kilpatrick Era Over … for Now”;

“White Detroit News Columnist (Almost) Tells the Truth about Former Motor City’s Decline!”

“Justice, Detroit-Style: Is Black Judge Vanessa Bradley a Racist? Do Cows Fart?”;

“Detroit: No-Name Clearances of No-Name Murders”;
“Detroit’s Convicted “Hip-Hop Mayor,” Kwame Kilpatrick, is Livin’ Large While Pleading Poverty”;

“(Kwame) Kilpatrick Enterprise” in Detroit: Most Corrupt Municipal Administration Anyone Had Ever Seen”;

“Carlita Kilpatrick, Wife of Convicted Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Fights Paying One Dime of the $1 Million Restitution He Agreed to, as Part of His Plea-Bargain”;

“Feds Declare War on Detroit’s Gangster mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, Charge Him with Everything but the Murder of Tamara Greene”;

“Detroit: New Crime Stats Fail Smell Test; How Could Crime Go Down 7% Overall Last Quarter, While Homicides Went Up 31%?”;

“Are White Gangs Making It Impossible to Drive City Buses in Detroit? Inquiring Minds Want to Know”;

“Detroit: Buses are So Dangerous and Unreliable That Disabled Mom of 6 Traded Her House for a Minivan”;

“Detroit: Three Men in Their 20s Allegedly Kidnapped and Gang-Raped Girl, 13, for at Least Three Days”;

“Mysterious, Anonymous Detroit News Story About Arrest of Triple Shooting Suspect, Nasir Banks”;

“Happy New Year, Detroit-Style: Club Manager was Killed, Trying to Break Up a Fight; FREEP Writer Knows Facts, but Refuses to Report Them”;

“Detroit: Serial Killer is Murdering Prostitutes Who Advertised Online in Pairs, and Stuffing Them in Car Trunks”;

“Blackberry: Detroit’s Murder Bar—Demesha Hunt, Renisha Landers, and Now, Claudia Benson Last Seen Alive There”; and

“Detroit: Murder Up 12%, but ‘Serious’ Crime is Down; Broken Windows Policing is on the Way”; and

“The Onion: Detroit Has One of America’s Top 10 Downtowns.”]