Federal prosecutors on Tuesday indicted the real-estate partner of Muskegon Heights City Manager/Fire Chief Shawn Roberson and an ex-con freed from prison by President Joe Biden, three weeks after state and federal agents raided city hall during an investigation of public corruption and drug crimes.
The indictment charges three people, including ex-con Lakento Brian Smith and Roberson’s real-estate partner in Muskegon Heights, Javon Brewer, whom The Detroit News exclusively linked to the corruption investigation last month. Prosecutors signaled Tuesday they would seek the forfeiture of Brewer’s home upon conviction.
Prosecutors also charged a third man: Fletcher Lee Salazar, whose age and hometown were not immediately available. The government, however, has not charged Roberson, a Democrat running in the Aug. 4 primary election for one of two seats on the Muskegon Township Board, who was suspended with pay after the July 23 city hall raid.
The three men were charged in a drug conspiracy involving the possession and distribution of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl. Smith, 54, and Brewer, 58, also were charged in a money laundering conspiracy. All three face at least 10 years in federal prison if convicted of the drug conspiracy charge.
On the morning of July 23, as a team of investigators from the FBI, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service and Michigan State Police searched city hall and other locations, federal prosecutors slapped a lien on Brewer’s home. In the lien, Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel McGraw indicated Brewer’s home could be forfeited to the government because the ranch-style home is linked to drug dealing.
The lien and other documents, including property records and a Michigan State Police search warrant, sharpen the focus of a rare public corruption investigation in west Michigan. The records reveal a sprawling investigation involving a public official with a history of financial problems, two felons and a drug pipeline leading from downtown Houston, Texas, to the shores of Lake Michigan.
The full scope of the investigation is unclear, but state police and federal agents are interested in the fire chief’s finances and real estate deals with the Muskegon County Land Bank. That is according to the warrant investigators obtained to search Muskegon Heights City Hall.
The fire chief and Brewer have deep ties involving real estate, including properties previously owned by the land bank, public records show.
The indictment marks more serious legal trouble for Smith.
The former Muskegon resident was initially charged with money laundering conspiracy last month as investigators searched city hall.
The 54-year-old convicted drug dealer whose 30-year sentence was commuted last year by Biden is portrayed in court records as a drug supplier funneling 28 kilograms of cocaine per week to Michigan.
The Muskegon native is accused of helping launder at least $130,000 in drug money from Smith’s new home in Houston, Texas.
Come back to www.detroitnews.com for more on this developing story.
rsnell@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Muskegon Heights City Hall raid leads to new indictments in drug probe
Reporting by Robert Snell, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Robert Snell, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
