Press Release
Contact:
Brian P. Lennon
ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY
PHONE: (616) 456-2404
MAJOR HEROIN SEIZURES BY THE DEA AND KVET RESULT IN FEDERAL
PRISON SENTENCES FOR AREA DRUG DEALERS, BUT TWO REMAIN AT-LARGE
Tuesday, July 21, 2009 -
Grand Rapids, Michigan – U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davis announced today the
sentencings in several federal drug cases investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) and the Kalamazoo Valley Enforcement Team (KVET), which is
comprised of detectives from the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety (KDPS) and the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Department (KCSD). The U.S. Attorney and federal investigators also are asking the public for information that may lead to the apprehension of two alleged drug
dealers who remain at-large.
Mexican Drug Traffickers Sentenced
Within the past week, Chief U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney sentenced Guillermo Samano-Padilla, 27, and Daniel Solis-Pulido, 42, to federal prison for their roles in a two-year drug conspiracy involving multiple kilograms of cocaine and heroin. On July 13, 2009, Chief Judge Maloney sentenced Guillermo Samano-Padilla to 156 months (13 years) in prison, and earlier today he sentenced Daniel Solis-Pulido to 120 months in prison. Both men are illegal aliens from Mexico who were living in South Haven, Michigan before their arrests on September 18, 2008. In March 2009, both Guillermo Samano-Padilla and Daniel Solis-Pulido pled guilty to Count One of a First Superseding Indictment charging them with being a part of a drug conspiracy involving over five kilograms of cocaine and over one kilogram of heroin. Both men also agreed to forfeit to the federal government their interest in thousands of dollars of U.S. currency seized during the execution of six federal search warrants in September 2008, and parcels of real property identified in the First Superseding Indictment. After serving their federal prison sentences, Guillermo Samano-Padilla and Daniel Solis-Pulido will be deported to Mexico.
On July 20, 2009, Chief Judge Maloney sentenced co-defendant Anthony “Moon Man” Smith, 34, of Kalamazoo, to 96 months (eight years) in federal prison for his role in the drug conspiracy. Because Smith assisted law enforcement in its investigation of Guillermo Samano-Padilla, Daniel Solis-Pulido and others, on March 16, 2009, Smith was allowed to waive indictment and plead guilty to two reduced felony drug charges of using a telephone in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. After Smith serves his term of incarceration, he will serve one year of federal supervised release.
This investigation and prosecution resulted from the collaborative efforts of federal, state and local drug investigators, including the DEA, KVET, KDPS, KCSD, the Michigan State Police Department’s West Michigan Enforcement Team (WMET), and the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department. Details of the investigation are contained in the attached Criminal Complaint in United States v. Guillermo Samano-Padilla et al., W.D. Michigan Case No. 1:08- MJ-637 [ESC]. In 2008, the DEA and WMET had identified Guillermo Samano-Padilla, Daniel Solis-Pulido, and Rey Samano-Padilla, as members of an alleged Mexican drug cell operating in Southwest Michigan. Guillermo Samano-Padilla, initially known to investigators as “Memo,” and Daniel Solis-Pulido, known as “Big Boy,” were believed to be the leaders of the West Michigan cell that was supplied by others in the Chicago area.
While the DEA and WMET investigation was proceeding, KVET received a tip from a cooperating federal defendant that Anthony Smith was being supplied with cocaine and heroin
from this Mexican cell operating in Van Buren County. KVET’s investigation resulted in the
August 18, 2008, arrest of Smith and Eddrick Logan, 29, of Kalamazoo, as they drove into Kalamazoo County from Van Buren County with a half-kilogram of heroin hidden in a compartment of Smith’s vehicle. The driver, Eddrick Logan, who was on parole from the State of Michigan, had over 13 grams of cocaine base (commonly referred to as “crack” or “crack cocaine”) in his pant’s pocket. Logan was arrested at the scene. Smith, however, was given the
opportunity to work with investigators, and on September 17, 2008, Smith made a “controlled
buy” of one kilogram of cocaine from Daniel Solis-Pulido at a residence in South Haven,
Michigan. The one-kilogram drug deal was arranged by Guillermo Samano-Padilla, who
instructed Smith to meet with Solis-Pulido to complete the transaction.
Solis-Pulido was arrested after he left the residence with the $18,000 of pre-recorded U.S. currency that was used as “buy money.” A search of the residence after the controlled purchase resulted in the recovery of another three quarters of a kilogram of cocaine, two kilograms of marijuana, and other evidence. A search of Daniel Solis-Pulido’s residence resulted in the recovery of another half-kilogram of heroin, a quantity of cocaine, two firearms, and over $20,0000 in U.S. currency.
On July 14, 2009, Logan pled guilty in federal court to possession with intent to distribute the over 13 grams of crack cocaine that he had in his pant’s pocket when police stopped the vehicle he was driving on August 18, 2008. U.S. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell will sentence Logan in Grand Rapids on October 13, 2009.
Rey Samano-Padilla, who also is charged in the First Superseding Indictment, has not been arrested and remains a fugitive. The conspiracy charge against a fourth defendant, Jose Castillo Hernandez, 42, was dismissed. Castillo-Hernandez, a Mexican citizen and illegal alien living in Van Buren County, initially cooperated with investigators, eventually pled guilty in state court to a drug-related charge, and was sentenced to 48 months. He too faces deportation to Mexico after he finishes serving his state court sentence.
KVET Dismantles A Detroit-Based Drug Operation In Kalamazoo
On June 23, 2009, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Jonker sentenced Terrell Wilkins, 28, of Detroit, Michigan, to 262 months (over 22 years) in federal prison for his role in a drug conspiracy involving crack cocaine and heroin in Kalamazoo County beginning in July 2007 and ending in January 2008. On February 18, 2009, Wilkins pled guilty to conspiring with Anton Mann, 34, and Anthony Webb, 30, both from Detroit, and Jherri Jezmaine Anderson, 23, of Kalamazoo, to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute over 50 grams of crack and heroin. A federal grand jury in Grand Rapids initially indicted Mann and Webb on a variety of drug and gun charges in February 2008, and in May 2008 included Jherri Anderson, who rented a residence at 1408 Krom Street in Kalamazoo, and allowed the Detroit men to sell their drugs from the residence. Wilkins was indicted separately in September 2008 and was arrested in the Detroit area in November 2008. Wilkins, Mann and Webb were denied bond and have remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since their arrests.
On July 29, 2008, Anton Mann pled guilty to four drug charges on the morning his trial was scheduled to begin. On November 3, 2008, Judge Jonker sentenced Mann to 204 months in federal prison. Anthony Webb was sentenced to 102 months in prison on September 25, 2008. Jherri Anderson, who was allowed to plead guilty to a reduced charge of maintaining a drug establishment, was on bond when she absconded before her December 2008 sentencing. On May 29, 2009, after almost six months as a fugitive, Anderson was arrested by a KVET detective assigned to the DEA task force. On June 17, 2009, Judge Jonker sentenced Anderson to 37 months in prison.
This federal prosecution of these Detroit area drug dealers and Anderson began with the execution of a search warrant at 1408 Krom Street in the City of Kalamazoo on December 19, 2007. Details of the investigation are contained in the attached Criminal Complaint in United States v. Anthony Webb et al., W.D. Michigan Case No. 1:08-MJ-600 [ESC]. Anthony Webb was home at the time along with two juveniles. Inside the residence, investigators recovered over 22 grams of crack cocaine and over 20 grams of heroin packaged for delivery, along with a fully loaded stolen firearm, computers and other evidence. From the computers, investigators recovered evidence that Wilkins, Mann and Webb were aspiring recording artists using the name, “Detroit Paper Chasers.” In addition to photographs and videos seized, investigators found recordings made by the Detroit men in which they advise others to “stop snitching” and sang about drug dealing as a way to “feed the family.” Mann and Webb eventually admitted that their recording group was a front for and financed by their illegal drug sales. After serving their respective sentences, all of the defendants will serve a term of federal supervised release -- Wilkins, Mann, and Webb for five years; Anderson for three years.
In a related case, Thomas Davis, 35, of Detroit, Michigan, also known as “Detroit Tone,” was sentenced by Judge Jonker on December 23, 2008, to 210 months in federal prison for conspiring with others in Kalamazoo County to distribute and possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine. Davis, Mann, Webb, and Anderson all received reduced sentences because of their cooperation with law enforcement in the investigation of other drug traffickers.
KVET Seizes 1.5 Kilograms of Heroin in Kent County
Destined for the Streets of Kalamazoo
On June 25, 2009, a federal grand jury in Grand Rapids returned a three-count indictment charging Donald James Hollin, 28, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, with a drug conspiracy involving over one kilogram of heroin. Hollin is also charged with possessing over a kilogram of heroin in Kent County with the intent to distribute it on June 4, 2009, and with distributing an unspecified amount of heroin that same day. Because Hollin has two prior felony drug convictions, including a 2002 federal drug conviction involving kilograms of cocaine, he faces a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of either Count One or Two of the indictment.
In a related case, on July 16, 2009, a grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging Tene Redd, 36, of Wyoming, Michigan in Count One with aiding and abetting Hollin’s drug operation and in Count Two with allowing Hollin to use her residence to store more than a kilogram of heroin. If convicted of Count One, Redd faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life imprisonment and other penalties.
Both Hollin and Redd were originally charged in June in separate felony criminal complaints after KVET Detectives and DEA Task Force Agents seized 1.5 kilograms of heroin from Redd’s Wyoming, Michigan apartment on June 4, 2009. KVET detectives had been conducting surveillance of a Kalamazoo man believed to be involved with Hollins’ drug trafficking organization. The affidavit in support of the complaint alleges that KVET detectives followed this individual to the Grand Rapids area, where he met with Donald Hollin and drove him to Redd’s Wyoming, Michigan apartment. After Hollin left the apartment and was dropped off at a Grand Rapids auto dealership, the driver was stopped after he returned to Kalamazoo County. Inside the driver’s vehicle, police seized two ounces of heroin. KVET detectives sought and obtained a state search warrant for Redd’s apartment, where they recovered the 1.5 kilograms of heroin, a digital scale, packaging material and rubber gloves. This 1.5 kilograms of heroin has a street value of well over $100,000 and is one of the largest heroin seizures in this district. These and more detailed allegations are contained in the attached criminal complaint in United States v. Donald Hollin, W.D. Michigan Case No. 1:09-MJ-634 [ESC].
Hollin, who was on federal supervised release for his 2002 federal drug conviction, has absconded and remains at large. Persons with information about the whereabouts of Hollin are encouraged to contact Silent Observer at (269) 343-2100 or the U.S. Marshals Service at (616) 456-2438. Reward money is available for information leading to the arrests of Donald Hollin and Rey Samano-Padilla.
Donald Hollin, Tene Redd, and Rey Samano-Padilla are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
U.S. Attorney Davis acknowledged the collaborative efforts of all the federal, state, and local law enforcement officers involved with these investigations that resulted in felony convictions and lengthy federal prison sentences. “Every law enforcement agency involved contributed to these successful prosecutions and favorable results.” Mr. Davis added, “these defendants sentenced to date are responsible for distributing significant quantities of heroin, cocaine, and crack not only in the Kalamazoo area but throughout Southwest Lower Michigan. Their lengthy prison sentences should serve as a deterrent to anyone thinking of filling the void and taking their places in the illegal drug trade in this district.”
Jeffrey Hadley, Chief of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety added, "KVET and the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety will continue to aggressively pursue drug traffickers dealing heroin and other controlled substances in the Kalamazoo area."
Assistant United States Attorney Brian P. Lennon prosecuted these cases.
END
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