crackdown on Saginaw's gang problem continued Friday with the sentencing of the man the federal government says is the leader of the city's most violent gang.
Stanley Brazil was convicted of drug trafficking last year. He says he was railroaded. The reason law enforcement agencies wanted the reputed Sunnyside gang members charged in federal court was in order to get tough prison sentences.
That's what Brazil got.He walked out of the federal courthouse in Bay City after being sentenced to 380 months in prison, which is more than 31 years.A jury convicted him last September of drug trafficking.A Michigan State Police report was part of testimony during a state Senate hearing on gang violence,The report details how investigators believed Brazil was the kingpin of the Sunnyside gang, a gang law enforcement agencies believe is behind a lot of the gun violence in the city.
"I think that Mr. Brazil distributed kilos and kilos and kilos of crack cocaine and powder cocaine in Saginaw and ruined a lot of lives and created a lot of violence, frankly," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara Tanase.
As Brazil left the courthouse, he proclaimed his innocence.
"(They) railroaded me," he said. "I'm innocent."Federal, state and local agencies nabbed Brazil and 30 other reputed Sunnyside members in an undercover operation that ran for two years.It was dubbed Operation Sunset, with the help of an associate of the gang."He's not in a witness relocation program, but he's in a safe spot," Tanase said.Brazil's conviction means 30 of the 31 alleged Sunnyside gang members who have been charged in federal court have ei been convicted and sentenced to prison.
John McKinney Sr. is awaiting trial."We have to continue," Tanase said. "It hasn't ended. There are other gangs out there and other groups we will have to go after."Brazil's attorney declined comment.Brazil is appealing his conviction.
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