Drug ring suspect who fled during trial gets his conviction tossed
Tresa Baldas , Detroit Free Press Published 7:10 p.m. ET Feb. 7, 2017 | Updated 11 hours ago
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(Photo: U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency)
He fled during trial, got caught — and then was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his alleged role in a major drug ring.

Despite all that, Earnest Proge had his conviction tossed today, convincing a federal appeals court that a judge forced him to go to trial with an attorney he didn't want and refused to give him a new lawyer — even when his own attorneys asked to withdraw from the case.

That, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded, was a violation of Proge's Sixth Amendment rights to defense counsel. In a 3-0 decision, the appeals court held that Proge's lawyers "made clear that there had been a complete breakdown in communication with Proge," and that they should have been allowed to withdraw. Proge asked for new lawyers one month before the start of trial, claiming his attorneys wanted him to take a plea deal that he opposed.


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U.S. District Judge Stephen Murphy agreed to let one of Proge's lawyers withdraw from the case, but not the other, concluding the request was a delay tactic. This, Proge argued, forced him to go to trial with an attorney who had previously admitted wasn't prepared or equipped to take the case to trial.

"Proge ... insisted that he did not want attorneys who did not want to fight for him, and repeated that he wanted to hire a new lawyer to represent him at trial," the 6th Circuit wrote, concluding Murphy erred in not allowing Proge to get new lawyers. "Considering that the request for new counsel was made timely and more than a month before trial ... and that there was a complete breakdown in the attorney-client relationship, the insistence that trial go forward without allowing for substitute counsel violated Proge's Sixth Amendment Rights."

The U.S. Attorney's Office was not readily available for comment. But according to the 6th Circuit's filing, even prosecutors urged Murphy to honor Proge’s request for new attorneys.

The case involves the infamous kingpin brothers, Carlos and Eric Powell, who were sentenced to life in 2014 for running what prosecutors called one of the largest drug rings in metro Detroit history. Proge was tried alongside the Powells. All three of them went on the the lam just before their guilty verdicts were read, triggering an international manhunt that ended with all three getting caught.

According to the government, the three men helped run a major drug trafficking operation that involved massive amounts of cocaine, heroin and marijuana which were stuffed into hidden compartments on tractor trailers and other vehicles and shuttled across the country. And the players lived large, the government said, using drug money to buy $800,000 worth of jewelry, boats and luxury vehicles including a Ferrari, Bentley, Rolls-Royce and Mercedes.


A lengthy DEA investigation uncovered a massive operation that ran from 2006-10 and involved 13 members, including a former Democratic state representative from Detroit.

That ex-lawmaker, Kenneth Daniels, was sentenced to a year in prison for helping hide Carlos Powell from authorities through crafty financial transactions. Daniels, who was charged with helping buy a Mercedes Benz for Carlos Powell, was previously convicted by a jury of structuring financial transactions.

Daniels was the only defendant who showed up to hear the jury's verdict.

The Powell brothers and Proge disappeared in May 2014, minutes before the jury delivered guilty verdicts. They were all caught within a month. Carlos Powell was captured in St. Louis; Eric Powell was arrested in Atlanta. Proge was arrested in St. Louis.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the group would send large amounts of drug proceeds to Arizona, Mexico and other places, where the money was used to buy more drugs.

Since 2006, law enforcement officers from across the country seized more than 12 kilograms of cocaine, 30 kilograms of heroin and 1,000 pounds of marijuana, all of which belonged to this drug ring. Authorities also seized more than $21 million in cash; more than $800,000 worth of jewelry; eight pieces of property in Michigan and Georgia valued in excess of $750,000; and 10 vehicles, including a 2004 Rolls-Royce, 2006 and 2008 Bentleys, a 2006 Ferrari, four Mercedes, a Ranger Rover and two boats.

The federal appeals court vacated Proge's conviction and remanded his case for further proceedings to the lower court.

Proge, meanwhile, is not a free man. He remains in custody and federal prosecutors plans to retry him, according to Gina Balaya, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office.