Detroit, MI
Detroit man last of 7 sentenced in fatal drug distribution scheme
A Detroit man was sentenced to prison Wednesday for a fatal drug distribution scheme on the city’s east side that resulted in overdoses and at least one death last year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.
Lavante Brown, 30, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison before U.S. District Court Judge Bernard Friedman. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute with the intent to distribute a controlled substance and distribution of fentanyl resulting in death on May 16, said Dawn Ison, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, in a news release.
Brown was the last of seven defendants in a drug conspiracy that resulted in overdoses and at least one death, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
“These defendants believed that they could take over areas of our city, destroy neighborhoods, and risk others’ lives with impunity,” Ison said. “But these sentences should serve as notice that federal law enforcement will not stand idly by while drug dealers do harm to our community.”
An FBI probe found that a group of dealers operated an on-demand drive-thru for drugs, including crack cocaine, heroin and fentanyl, on Yacama Avenue on Detroit’s east side.
Customers bought drugs by driving to the street, where they were served at their car window with drugs at any time of day, as many times as they could afford, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. The incessant drug activity plagued residents and resulted in home abandonments, said prosecutors, who added that the abandoned homes were used to further drug distribution.
“Drugs sold from Yacama caused many overdoses, including at least one fatal overdose,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Brown was among six others across Metro Detroit who pleaded guilty to offenses related to the sales of controlled substances on Yacama:
- Anthony Foster, 38, of Detroit pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance; he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
- Willie Swift, 58, of Detroit pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance; he was sentenced to over 10 years in prison.
- Terrance Hall, 34, of Eastpointe pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute with the intent to distribute a controlled substance and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
- Dana Hudson, 46, of Detroit pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance and was sentenced to five years in prison.
- David Terry, 41, of Harper Woods pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance and was sentenced to over four years in prison.
- Justin Fields, 33, of Rochester Hills pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance. He was sentenced to one day of custody with credit for time-served, followed by three years of supervised release.
“Today’s sentencing marks a significant victory in our relentless fight against opioid trafficking and its devastating impact on our community,” said Cheyvoryea Gibson, special agent in charge of the FBI in Michigan.
“This case sends a strong message that we will not tolerate activities that endanger our citizens’ lives and will continue to work tirelessly to hold those responsible accountable. I commend the diligent efforts of the FBI’s Oakland County Gang and Violent Crime Task Force in bringing these criminals to justice.”
Detroit, MI
A hot and humid start to the work week
CBS DETROIT – Temperatures will remain in the 80s for the beginning of the week, with a few chances of storms.
There is a marginal chance of severe storms moving in both Monday and Tuesday afternoons. Be prepared for the possibility of heavy rain, wind gusts, and hail.
We could also see a near-record high temperature for Monday.
More chances for showers and storms arrive on Wednesday, but once that system moves out we will dry out and see cooler temperatures to end the week.
Detroit, MI
President Joe Biden speaks to Detroit NAACP dinner: How to watch
President Joe Biden is getting set to speak Sunday evening at the Detroit Branch NAACP’s annual Fight for Freedom Fund dinner at Huntington Place in his first visit to the city this campaign season.
Because it’s being considered a campaign event, the White House website won’t be carrying the event live, but there are a couple of places you can watch it, including here on freep.com, courtesy of a link from C-SPAN.
You can also watch it online at cspan.org and WYXZ Channel 7 will be carrying it live on its website, wxyz.com.
The speech to the annual dinner comes at a crucial time in Biden’s campaign for reelection with several swing state polls showing him trailing former President Donald Trump in a rematch of the 2020 election. Michigan is expected to help determine which man gets reelected in November.
Meanwhile, Biden is trying to shore up support among Black voters, who are vital to his reelection hopes. Earlier Sunday, Biden delivered the commencement address at Morehouse College in Atlanta, a historically all-male Black institution, before traveling to Michigan.
Come back to freep.com for more coverage of Biden’s visit to Detroit.
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler.
Detroit, MI
Megan Thee Stallion brings swagger and spice to LCA in first Detroit headlining show
Megan Thee Stallion signs distribution deal with Warner Music Group
Megan Thee Stallion has signed a distribution deal with Warner Music Group but will retain her independence as an artist.
Bang Showbiz
She may be just three shows into her first-ever headlining tour, but Megan Thee Stallion looked all the part of a seasoned star onstage Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena.
Five years after breaking big with “Hot Girl Summer,” the Grammy-winning rapper has embarked on a transatlantic arena tour of that same name, with Detroit an early stop on the run.
A sellout crowd was there to greet the 29-year-old Houston hitmaker for what was a girls-night-out kind of affair, with many fans arriving at LCA in their own variations of the curvaceous body suits and flesh-baring monokinis Megan Thee Stallion would embrace onstage.
It was a night writhing with snake imagery, sexual bravado and near-nonstop booty shaking. The show was as much about Megan’s confident, assertive presence as it was her ever-growing repertoire of kinky hits — a salvo that started Saturday with her latest chart-topper, “Hiss,” and its barrage of cleverly barbed celebrity shade.
Joined by eight dancers who at one point joined the star for a synchronized twerking number, Megan Thee Stallion kept the pace upbeat and the downtime minimal. The only extended pause for breath came with a mid-show segment in which she invited groups of excited fans — her Hotties — onto the stage for their own personalized dancing exhibitions.
Amid the extravagant raunchiness that often bordered on camp, that was a touch of come-one, come-all togetherness and accessibility, much like the assorted selfies she snapped on audience members’ mobile phones throughout the night.
As a rapper, Megan Thee Stallion is formidable — she built a name via her electrifying freestyles, after all — and her rapid-fire rhymes accentuated songs such as “Sex Talk,” “Kitty Kat” and “Stalli.” Elsewhere, numbers like “Thot S—” rode high on catchy hooks, with the likes of “Big Ole Freak” becoming arena-wide chant-alongs and “BOA” serving up her distinctive brand of side-eye.
After reported technical glitches on the tour’s opening nights, Saturday’s mix was crisp and full, and the star’s mouth-twisting vowels and spicy wordplay were only occasionally lost in the sonic boom.
Megan Thee Stallion’s trademark, defiant swagger did give way to a little vulnerability with the recent single exploring her battles with depression, “Cobra,” which wrapped up the concert’s opening segment.
“Wanna Be,” with guest Glorilla, and the 2020 Cardi B smash “WAP” helped the show start a crescendo that finished with the biggest hit of Megan’s career, the Beyoncé-featuring “Savage.”
For all the night’s energy — and props to the likable Megan, that rarely flagged — the show threatened to become a monotonous affair, offering few variations in sound, movement or expression. At a crisp 85 minutes, it clocked out probably exactly when it needed to.
Rising rapper Glorilla had kicked off the evening with a 45-minute set of Memphis-fueled hip-hop and her own brand of self-empowerment.
Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.
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