A man arrested in a drug investigation in February was sentenced in Monroe County District Court on Thursday, Aug. 21.
Earnest Deangelo Hunter pled guilty to one count of delivery/manufacture of controlled substances, and six counts of illegally possessing a firearm. Charges of maintaining a drug house and delivery/manufacture of methamphetamine were dropped. He was sentenced to 57-480 months in prison on drug charges, plus a consecutive 24 months on the firearm charges.
In early February 2025, multiple search warrants were executed simultaneously throughout Monroe County. The warrants were the culmination of a nearly year-long investigation conducted by the Monroe Area Narcotics Team and Investigative Services.
With the assistance of over 120 law enforcement partners, search warrants were executed simultaneously at six separate residences in Monroe County.
Close to a kilogram of cocaine was seized along with heroin, ecstasy, and analogues. Handguns and an AR-style pistol without serial numbers were also seized, along with body armor.
The MANTIS team is comprised of investigators from the Michigan State Police, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Monroe Public Safety Department and the U.S. Border Patrol.
Another suspect arrested in the investigation, Cecil Romano Pippens, is scheduled to appear for his final pretrial hearing in Circuit Court on Sept. 29. He is on a bond of $75,000.
— Contact reporter Connor Veenstra at CVeenstra@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Man sentenced in Monroe County drug bust case
Reporting by Connor Veenstra, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
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