Im surprised these guys weren't being held in custody during trial.
This is the guy who was linked to the mayor kwame Kilpatrick, it was alleged that he paid a bribe to Kilpatrick through this other guy to secure a $10 million loan from the pension fund. The guy who paid the bribe for him committed suicide.
heres a more detailed article about his case. this guy was swimming in money
Federal agents Wednesday arrested the alleged leader of an international drug ring based in Metro Detroit, which is accused of peddling hundreds of kilograms of heroin, cocaine and marijuana and stockpiling millions in cash.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration nabbed alleged drug kingpin Carlos Powell early Wednesday following a multi-year investigation. He was arrested at about 7:45 a.m. at his home in Eastpointe. Powell, who has homes in Detroit and Macomb County, is expected to be arraigned at 1 p.m. in federal court.
During the probe, the feds have seized more than $10 million in cash and 55 pounds of heroin. 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, 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 55 pounds of heroin, meanwhile, roughly equals a quarter of the heroin seized by the DEA two years ago in Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky.DEA and Justice Department officials declined to talk about the investigation.
"It's an ongoing criminal investigation, and we're not going to comment at all at this point," DEA spokesman Rich Isaacson said.
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 cellphone wiretaps.
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.
He doesn't have a criminal record.
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.
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.
"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.
