Rapper Reinforces His Rap Sheet

And his rap sheet goes back as far as 2001.

One might say that Detroit Rapper Brian Brown has methed up.

The Detroit News: Detroit rap mogul Brian Brown gets in fresh trouble with feds

A Detroit music mogul, once described in a sealed federal search warrant as one of the largest heroin dealers in the Midwest who used his rap label to launder drug money, is in fresh trouble along with his wife after being accused of heading a nationwide drug ring linked to Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel. 

Right after being celebrated for turning his life around, post-incarceration (for apparently a far too-short sentence that did not, in fact, cause him to reform) too: One West: Reformed Detroit Drug Kingpin-Turned-Grammy-Nominated Music Mogul Releases Documentary, Detailing His Unconventional Life Of Crime And Transformation Into The World Of Entertainment 

Who knows, maybe his turning point was going from heroin to meth? 

That's Wrongly Using Your Head

The Detroit Free Press: Man busted in airport smuggling cocaine under toupee

Cocaine makes you do dumb things.  Smuggling cocaine even moreso. Indeed, it can make you wig out.

A Colombian man was arrested for attempting to smuggle cocaine worth thousands under his toupee, officials announced on Monday.

The suspect was caught before taking a flight to Amsterdam from Cartagena's Rafael Nunez International Airport, according to Reuters and Sky News.

He had about $10,000 worth of coke under his wig. 

Maybe he should have just opted for a comb-over.

Police Caught A Hardened Criminal

 From Florida, of course.

The Detroit Free Press: 77-year-old Florida man accused of getting ED pills to distribute in retirement community

A Florida man has been federally charged after investigators said got $1,800 worth of erectile dysfunction drugs with the intention of distributing them locally in a popular retirement community.

The 77-year-old resident of The Villages, a massive retirement community between Orlando and Gainesville that has become infamous (albeit due to some tall tales) for its lively and frisky residents.

An interesting choice of drugs to peddle, but he certainly knew his target audience.

Lies, And Lying Liars, Who Lie: White House Cocaine Edition

"We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, but they are still lying.”

- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

We know members of the Biden Administration lie as naturally as breathing or perhaps even more naturally that that. 

The drama over cocaine being found in the White House has resulted in lies being snorted out of the White House with astonishing rapidity and regularity.

The most interesitng lies so far concern the constantly shifting location where the cocaine was actually found.

Red State:  Holy Coke: The White House Cocaine Story Changes Yet Again

The location of the cocaine discovery has now wandered from outside the White House, to inside the White House, to the White House lobby, to the White House library, to the West Wing, and now to the West Executive entrance, apparently with its final discovered place yet to be decided upon, depending on the needs of the narrative and likely to shield the bringer of said cocaine into the White House.

Why bother lying about where it was found? The claim that the Secret Service is unable to identify who left it, wherever it was in fact left, does defy belief and raises lots of questions as to the security measures protecting the White House.

Then again, why not bother lying about it?  Since this administration lies about just about everything, throwing a few lies and some misdirection about the cocaine found in the White House can make it a welcome distraction from other things they're lying about as well.

A Quick Tip For The Average Person To Stay Out Of Jail

I was Downriver (Areas south of Detroit along the shore of the Detroit River is colloquially known around here as Downriver) in a District Court today waiting for a scheduled trial.

Sadly for me and my client, the Judge adjourned our trial even though we had shown up ready to go.  

Scheduling conflicts bumped us and criminal cases beat civil cases in order of precedence.  So, I will get to do the trial soon and it's going to be EPIC.  Will blog about it once done, but suffice to say it has already been rather entertaining in the lead-up to trial.

But, as we were waiting to see if we got to go, the judge was going through criminal case after criminal case.

There was a clear ongoing set of commonalities amongst practically every criminal case called:

1. Drugs or excessive alcohol usage (or both) was involved; then

2.  Someone couldn't keep their hands to themselves, and/or off the steering wheel.

On top of that, many compounded the problem by stupidly failing to appear for their first hearing without any notice to the court causing them to catch new fun, expensive, and jail-able penalties now that they got caught after failing to show up.

For almost all of the people called it wasn't their first criminal call rodeo. 

One lady had 4 concurrent cases running right now in front of three different judges for 4 separate recent incidents. Sadly for her, judges can see your current proceedings even in another court and they're not impressed that you're trying to earn frequent court customer points. In fact it's rather the opposite as they can see you're really not learning and now they have to teach you a lesson.  

You will not like that lesson.

There was a very clear pattern of a lack of impulse control amongst all defendants.

So quite simply if you can both:

1. Stay off drugs and keep your alcohol usage under control so you don't get stupid drunk/drugged in public and then do stupid things; and

2.  Handle your inter-personal relationships while keeping your hands to yourself and not on a steering wheel if drunk or stoned,

Then, you're likely not going to be on the receiving end of the criminal justice system.

Should you choose to fail to do steps 1 and 2, then A) Get a lawyer; and B) Show up when you're scheduled to show up. 

Failure to do A and B is going to make things a whole lot worse for you.  

You really don't want a judge to say to you as a defendant: "You're just not getting this are you?"

Getting A Drivers Licenses From The Secretary Of State

In all the excitement of Abby passing her test, I forgot to relate the customer service experience at the Secretary of State (think DMV to you non-Michiganians) when we went in to get her license.

First, the SOS office (an apt acronym) is rather Soviet in efficiency: You have to stand in a line in order to get in a line. Yes, really.

So we stood in line for quite awhile, just to get a number for our spot in the line to be served. Then we waited in line some more.

Time passed rather slowly and it was well over an hour and a half before we got to get her the license.

Interestingly, the Secretary of States office had a new smell throughout it that was new since we were last there when she got her learners permit and we got to enjoy it the whole time we waited there.

The skunky smell of marijuana absolutely pervaded the place.

Now that marijuana is legal in Michigan, people seem to have no problem stinking up the place.

You'd think now it was legal they'd buy some less malodorous stuff. Also, its kinda both gutsy and dumb to show up to get your license renewed absolutely reeking of weed, especially with no driving under the influence posters festtoned on the walls. Then again, it probably was hilarious for them to get their license photos taken while stoned, 'cause being stoned and driving go together just great, right?

There's been no time to develop an etiquette on legal marijuana usage in Michigan yet, and it shows.

But, one would think having the courtesy not to cause everyone around you to get a contact high, in a government office no less, from how much skunky scent you're giving off would be an easy one to figure out. I mean, if there was a cop outside when the users left pretty sure it would be an easy for the officer to follow his nose and end up giving them a driving under the influence charge the second they got behind the wheel.

Ah well, temporary paper license finally in hand with the real one to follow by mail, fresh cold air awaited outside.

Mexico Cartel Attacks Continue To Get Closer To The US Border

The Detroit News: Death toll put at 20 after Mexico cartel attack near U.S. border

A Mexican drug cartel, the Cartel of the Northeast, attacked and shot up the city hall of Villa Union, killing some government workers, in an hour-long assault including a battle with state and federal responding forces.

In reading the article, you can see the cartels aren't exactly keeping a low profile - the convoy of trucks the attackers rode in on for their assault had C.D.N. markings very nicely applied to the sides of their trucks. Not exactly a covert action by any means.

The attack took place all of 35 miles south-southwest of Eagle Pass, Texas.

Any bets on how long it takes before these large-scale attacks spill over to the American side of the border and we need to send forth responding punitive expeditions led by a new Black Jack Pershing?

Scenes From Court Today

So criminal call today in with my client, who happens to be all sorts of guilty, on video no less. In short, no way this is going to trial.

So I do my thing, and we get a decent plea agreement for a first time offender with restitution, probation, and if in full compliance of all terms of probation, a nice erasure of the record. Not bad for a 2-count felony case with a max of 5 years in prison on each of the two counts, where there is no question of guilt at all.

But before all that, we get to watch a few people go through the system and its rather instructive.

For one lady, it is her tenth, yes tenth sentence for felony theft. She states she's now turning her life around. The judge dryly notes that her daily reported use of marijuana certainly isn't making her any smarter and clearly not helping her do so. The lady seems unable to stop stealing other people's stuff, and is likely going to continue to do so.

Another person gets sentenced on an assault-related felony, committed while high on marijuana. Again not the brightest tool in the shed. He's turning his life around too.

Bit of a pattern regarding regular marijuana use and felonious conduct is developing. Quite a number of people on marijuana seem to have trouble keeping their hands to themselves and off other people or other people's property.

And so it goes, then there's a break in the marijuana follies as we get one fellow with a 3rd DUI and a firearm in the car at the time. A bad call that. Fellow blew a .20 so yep, he was drunk alright. 3rd DUI is a felony, and then having a gun in the vehicle while under the influence is a misdemeanor. He pleads to both and gun is forfeited. Sentencing to follow. Don't do that folks.

One fellow comes in and has only done 60 of the 360 hours of community service required as part of his probation. He's right up on a due date and is likely to blow it leading to his being violated yet again as he'd have to do community service full time for 2 months to make those numbers, and he's not even close as he's doing a couple hours a week, tops. On top of that he had previously absconded so the court is not particularly sympathetic and gives him a rather stern warning then sets a new hearing date for the latest probation violation.

Then one fellow with one heckuva probation gift blows it badly - apparently he keeps leaving in-resident treatment to go drinking which means he's going to go back to jail, and for a large number of years.

In short, the majority of people there were for felony crimes committed while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

More Stupid Criminal Tricks

There's a reason they're called dumb criminals folks.

Probably this is one of Livingston County Sheriff's easiest catches to date, and yet another reminder to not do drugs as they sure do make you all sorts of stupid:

The Detroit Free Press: Sheriff: Man brings heroin to girlfriend's release from jail

Yes, the idiot actually went to the Livingston County Sheriff's Office and Jail parking lot, in broad daylight, passed out in his car, likely from drug use, and had plenty of heroin in his car. They only thing he didn't provide was posting a sign in the car window stating "Idiot and drugs inside, come and get 'em".

One has to wonder if he really just wanted to give them an excuse to get him put in jail because his girlfriend was getting out.

Using The Internet To Shop For Illegal Substances Is Not A Good Idea

Apparently one fellow's bright idea to get drugs is to order a synthetic opiod from China on the "dark web".

He then takes some and promptly dies.

When your street-side pharmacist is now located a few thousand miles away, there's not much opportunity to complain about the product nor to check on the reputation of the provider.

The Detroit Free Press: White Lake man, 19, dies from injecting 'dark web' opioids

“Labs in Asia make this stuff and sell it,” McNulty said. “People have no idea what they’re actually getting and shooting up; there’s a lot of this synthetic stuff around and it's very dangerous.”

No kidding. The buyer had no idea about the reputability of the manufacturer, the product is being bought clandestinely, and there is no guarantee as to what is even in the powder you're about to place in your body or if it is even what you think it is.

What could possibly go wrong with that plan?

The Stupid, It Burns

As one might expect, criminals manufacturing illegal drugs at their homes aren't the brightest of the bunch.

Manufacturing illegal drugs tends to be a rather dangerous business even apart from the likelihood of a negative interaction with the criminal justice system. Manufacturing illegal drugs generally involves chemicals or substances that may very well go "boom" before you can make them get you high.

So today's example for others, identity not yet released, manages to badly burn himself and his apartment as well as damage other apartments by trying to manufacture hash oil.

Apparently you do this with butane. Butane, as most people happen to know, is a "highly flammable, colorless, easily liquefied gas".

The Detroit Free Press: Man severely burned in fire tied to hash oil production

An initial investigation by the Rockford Department of Public Safety indicates butane was likely being used to extract hash oil from marijuana.

Here's the extra stupid part that will enshrine this fellow as a prime example to others and potential Darwin Award winner if he doesn't pull through:

"The butane ignited when he lit a cigarette,'' Rockford DPS Director David Jones said.

The victim suffered burns to nearly half of his body, including his mouth. Rockford police were not releasing the man's name because of pending criminal charges, Jones said.

So, you're working with a highly flammable gas, in an enclosed space, manufacturing illegal drugs, and you decide to light up a cigarette?

There's a reason it's called dope.

Making A Real Meth Of Things In Michigan

Meth is a terrible drug not just for its effects on the user but also for those who would never ever use such a drug.

This is due to both the ease of manufacture and the very hazardous waste created in its making, which can cause a real risk to innocents of injury and property damage from living near some dimwit trying to cook his own meth causing an explosion after watching a few episodes of Breaking Bad.

The Detroit News: Meth trash piling up across Michigan

In short, you can now apparently try to make your own in a pop bottle of all things - leading to idiots leaving pop bottles full of hazardous chemicals around rivers and the great outdoors, which innocents may come across while trying to enjoy the outdoors.

Apparently Michigan ranks fifth in "meth lab incidents" in the US with Indiana taking the honor of coming in first. The state also likely gets stuck with the health care costs of the idiots that set themselves on fire while enjoying misadventures in cooking.

Taking fifth place in such a list is bad enough, as are the clean-up costs from these morons.

When It All Goes To Pot - Dopes on Both Sides Of A Robbery and Shooting

In both Wisconsin and Michigan, you're not allowed to use deadly force solely to protect your property.

This is doubly so when the property in question is an illegal substance.

The Detroit News: Michigan man charged with shooting at pot thief

A 22-year-old Michigan man is accused of firing two shots at a 19-year-old Green Bay man who tried to rob him during a drug deal.

Benjamin Hubbard of Menominee is charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree recklessly endangering safety with a dangerous weapon and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

The Green Bay man told police that he and a friend arranged to buy two ounces of marijuana from Hubbard with the intention of stealing it.

A criminal complaint says Hubbard pointed a gun at the man after his friend ran off with one of the bags. It says the man returned the second bag, but Hubbard fired twice at him as he drove off in his vehicle.

Note that Hubbard fired at them as they were driving away after taking the stash, and thus not presenting a threat to his person.

Note also that it appears the robbers called police on the guy they had robbed after he took a shot at them in their fleeing vehicle. Robbers, in possession of a prohibited substance, calling the cops on the seller of the substance from whom they had just stolen it.

Methinks all three of them are going to have an educational interaction with the Wisconsin criminal justice system.

This is part of the reason it's called dope.

Always Request Confirmation

Yet another tale of fun from court.

I have a client that is in bad shape medically and ran afoul of the law, resulting in a misdemeanor for being stupid, in a circumstance that doesn't bear going into for the purposes of this story.

How bad shape medically you may ask? Well, thanks for asking. So bad that she's on heavy medications, cannot function or walk without the medications and has quite a few side affects from same. Said medications would lead one to be in serious penal jeopardy if you were taking or possessing them on a recreational basis. She, by way of contrast, has prescriptions, attending doctors, an extensive medical history, and is tested on a regular basis to make sure her blood count for all this stuff is correct, and she does not use recreational drugs.

Unfortunately, we're in front of a judge who seems to have a thing against people being prescribed certain pain killers.

So at a pre-sentencing hearing the judge orders her to take a pee test right at the court's probation office, which she does. This is instead of just moving this case along with the already plead plea deal of a deferred sentence, probation and then having it removed off of her record as she has no prior criminal conduct or record.

She's been doing these test regularly anyways not just for her doctor but for the probation department as a condition of her bond and they have a full list of all her meds and the tests tend to come back unsurprisingly as positive for all the stuff she's taking.

This time however, the test taker claims that the test results showed she took methamphetamine.

This doesn't make sense, especially as no other test has ever detected it, she had recently been checked by her doctor and no meth was found, and she's already on an prescribed amphetamine so why would she go for the fake stuff when she can have the real thing?

Guess what boys and girls? The pee test does have a high likelihood of triggering on amphetamine metabolites and erroneously reporting them as methamphetamine metabolites.

The judge gets pissed and orders a bond revocation hearing. This is after I've already left court by the way. The client is now being railroaded with the next stop ending at a jail.

The more I look into this the curiouser it becomes.

I check with the probation office and ask if they confirmed the test. They don't know but they're convinced that since the test showed meth, so its meth, regardless of her prescribed meds.

A Toxicologist I talk to about this laughs out loud when I run the facts by him. Without a proper confirmation test being done at a lab, the test is junk as it is an initial screening test only and yes, it can indeed show the client's prescription amphetamine use as methamphetamine.

So the court is about to throw someone in jail based on a unsubstantiated and unreliable (in this circumstance) test.

I start having to draft a motion for the hearing and move to retain the Toxicologist, who does not come cheap, to prepare to defend my client and keep the client out of jail.

I then talk to the assigned probation officer and ask if the test is confirmed yet. She states that it was not confirmed. I ask if it is going to be confirmed and she says no. I point out that without a lab doing a gas chromatography–mass spectrometry test to confirm the presence of methamphetamine and rule out the likelihood that the false positive was caused by the metabolites from the Defendant’s medications, the baseline pee test is unreliable.

She considers that, then agrees and states she will recommend to the judge that the bond hearing be pulled and we go back to the normal track of things.

Today, the court clerk confirmed the hearing is off and we're back on track towards the deal as pleaded.

So yay me, I now know far more about drug testing than I ever have before. More importantly, I managed to stop the railroad and kept my client out of jail for a violation that the client did not commit.

Detroit Chalks Up Another Drug Related Murder In A Big Way

Apparently not only does nothing good happens in Detroit after midnight, but if you're involved in the drug trade in any fashion it can go bad even earlier in the evening.

The Detroit News: Teen dead after man shoots at car in Detroit

According to police, four of the five victims lived in Grosse Pointe while the fifth lived in Detroit.

“At approximately 9:10 p.m., we received a call about four teenagers being shot in the area of Charlevoix and Philip,” said Deputy Chief Renee Hall in an interview to Fox 2 News.

“We found approximately 30 shell casings in that area... which is very desolate. The victims reported they were in that area attempting to find the brother of one of the victims.”

According to Hall, the survivors said they had pulled over to smoke some marijuana when a black man driving a tan Cadillac approached their vehicle.

Apparently police are currently questioning their story and don't think this was a random shooting or that they were just looking for someone's brother, but it's too early to tell.

It appears the shooter used a rifle and was firing very quickly and one witness claimed it was fully automatic, which if true is certainly double-plus illegal indeed.

In short stopping to smoke marijuana in a desolate part of Detroit is never a good idea nor is doing anything else drug-related in a crime-ridden area of a very crime-ridden city.

No, You Weren't Being Profiled When You Got Pulled Over, You Were Just Being Plain Stupid

Had a potential client, along with his mom, come in and tell his story of woe.

He gets pulled over and busted for possession of a certain green leafy substance.

His mom flatly and righteously declared that he was only pulled over 'cause he was Driving While Black.

All righty then.

So I begin to discuss the facts and learn the following:

The stop took place at night on December 31st, on a highway. Keep in mind that's New Year's eve.

The police car apparently came up, went ahead of him, and dropped back to then pull him over.

Asking further questions as to why the officer did that, she says, "well one of the headlights wasn't working". I point out that's a perfectly valid reason for a stop.

He then quickly pipes up that the cop wouldn't be able to tell that the headlight was broken.

"Why would that be?", I ask.

'Cause both headlights were working because he was driving with his high-beams kept on, on a major highway, at night, on New Year's Frickin' eve!

I explain that's a valid reason for a stop and to forget about challenging it on racial profiling grounds. They don't seem to like that response, what a surprise.

Then they state the leafy substance wasn't his but that it likely belonged to either her ex-boyfriend; their nephew with a medical marijuana card that she knows is driving suspended, but she lets him drive the car anyway; or her friend who is often a passenger in the car and has been know to smoke in it.

I ask if any of the above want to come forward and testify that the kid didn't know they had hidden the weed in the car. She states none of them would do that.

I then explain the concept of constructive possession and how if no one else is going to step up, it's on the kid, and a plea bargain is in order here.

They don't like that either, nor do they like the idea that they may, gasp, have to pay a reasonable amount for legal services and expect me to magically make it go away on the extremely cheap.

Well, No.

I wasn't retained, they're not my clients, none of the facts related in this tale are outside of the police report, and I suggested they ask for a court-appointed attorney who will likely tell them the same thing I just did assuming they don't want to actually hire an attorney to represent them.

Good luck with that.

They Really Should Have Kept The Tip

Apparently meth, in addition to making you lose your teeth and causing anxiety, depression, methamphetamine psychosis, suicide, and violent behaviors also makes you so very, very stupid.

This is aptly demonstrated by a couple meth-heads in Oregon:

The Detroit Free Press: Patrons accused of tipping waitress with crystal meth

A waitress at the Twisted Fish restaurant in Seaside, Ore., got an unusual tip — an envelope full of methamphetamine.

The Daily Astorian newspaper reports the waitress contacted police Friday after a couple included the envelope while paying for their drinks.

The responding officer identified the substance, and arrested 40-year-old Ryan Bensen of Beaverton and 37-year-old Erica Manley of Cascade Locks.

Police said they found more of the drug when searching Manley's purse and the couple's motel and vehicle.

Maybe they wanted speedier service and thought the meth would help the waitress pick it up a notch, but probably not.

Doing Jobs Americans Won't Do - Meth Edition

Mexican cartels fill demand for meth in USA

From the Detroit Free Press:

Mexican drug cartels are quietly filling the void in the nation's drug market created by the long effort to crack down on American-made methamphetamine, flooding U.S. cities with exceptionally cheap, extraordinarily potent meth from factorylike "superlabs."

Although Mexican meth is not new to the U.S. drug trade, it now accounts for as much as 80 percent of the meth sold here, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. And it is as much as 90 percent pure, a level that offers users a faster, more intense and longer-lasting high.

Great, so I'm getting carded for buying frickin' Allegra D and prevented from buying a whole season's supply at once supposedly to stop the menace of meth while far purer meth is being shipped in by the ton unaffected by such stupidity. (As an aside - Anyone know if meth made from Allegra D or Sudafed also helps the user with their allergies? Inquiring minds of non-users of meth would like to know).

Can we please end the whole stupid carding and limited purchase charade now, considering that we've now outsourced illegal meth production to Mexico?

That's One Way To Wake Up, But Seriously Not Recommended

The Detroit Free Press: Man on shrooms shoots self in head to wake up from bad trip

A teen who ate mushrooms and drank a tea made from the fungi shot himself in the forehead so he could wake up from a nightmare he said he was having while awake ... He said after he shot himself he didn't wake up from the bad dream. [He] tried to clean the blood that got on the carpet, wrapped a bandage around his head and walked outside. He saw a man who he asked to take him to the hospital.

According to the Dayton Beach News-Journal, the idiot shot himself right smack in the forehead with a .22 rifle.

Attempted improvised self-inflicted lobotomies are just not a good way to end a bad drug trip, nor any other trip for that matter.

Sadly, the news reports all failed to state if the bullet fully mushroomed.

Clarence Page Simply Shocked That Obama Isn't Living Up To Expectations

Instapundit really ought to have a category called '"Hey Rube", for all the countless entries he's made wherein he notes former and current Obama supporters disenchanted upon finding out the Obama administration isn't living up to the hype of hope'n'change.

Now eligible to join the distinguished category of those supporters who have now been disappointed that Obama didn't live up to his hype nor his promises is one Clarence Page, a major media pundit and cheerleader for Democrats and Obama in particular.

The Detroit News: Obama's pot reform goes up in smoke

I would shrug and say "So what?" to the latest details from President Barack Obama's pot-smoking past, except for one thing: He stirred so much hope as a candidate for sensible marijuana policy reforms but, as president, has delivered so little change.

Sorry Rube. You supported him, you boosted him, you voted for him, so you can now claim him.

After all, to paraphrase Instapundit: They told me if I voted for John McCain there would be a crack-down on marijuana users, and they were right!