Two former corrupt Detroit police officers are headed to prison.

Ex-Detroit Police Lt. David Hansberry, 35, was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison; and former Police Officer Bryan Watson, 47, was sentenced to 9 years in prison.

The men, who worked for the now-disbanded Detroit Police Narcotics Unit, were accused of setting up fake busts and robbing drug dealers of cash, valuables and drugs under the guise of official investigations.

Christopher A. Wilson, a convicted drug dealer, testified that Detroit police officers busted in on an in-progress cocaine deal and "robbed" the men present of nearly $140,000 cash in November 2011.

Amber Pickett, the girlfriend of another high-level Detroit drug dealer currently serving time in federal prison after a bust involving the Mexican Cartel, says Detroit police stole a duffel bag from her home loaded with cash in April 2011. The amount of money in the bag: $45,460, according to a police forfeiture form entered into evidence at a Detroit federal courtroom Friday.

In a 2010 bust, the officers were accused of seizing nearly $3 million in cash, although only about $2.2 million ever made it to evidence lockers.

These are just a few examples of the sort of police-drug dealer heists that prosecutors say a rogue crew of Detroit cops executed between 2011 and 2014.

The federal government says the men monitored substantial drug transactions and intervened, "using their police authority to extort drugs, money and personal property."

Attorneys for the ex-law enforcers on Monday filed a request for a new trial claiming prosecutors withheld crucial evidence from coming to light at the trial.

Source: mlive.com

Date Posted: Wednesday, February 22nd, 2017 , Total Page Views: 2139