URGENT URGENT – Where and Why are U.P. Residents disappearing 1-18-17 Houghton Sheriff’s dept. Alert tonight – another missing person in Houghton County has law enforcement worried tonight – please share the story they ask – and visit the Houghton County Sheriff’s Department Facebook Page
Where is Kenneth “Ryan” Clark of Hancock, MI ? – It’s Not the Same Safe U.P. – Missing and Endangered List Grows – two now vanished in Houghton County
Police across the U.P. say they have suspects in some cases but prosecutors will not “go for it” claiming not enough evidence – Like two unsolved Marquette murders – and the killers are allowed to flee the U.P. and go free without consequence
One suspect in Marquette was a church leader who allegedly killed a young parishioner and and another former Marquette Branch Prison guard who allegedly – violently killed a gay Marquette man at Presque Isle
By Greg Peterson
U.P. Breaking News
Owner, News Director
906-273-2433
(The Missing and Endangered in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan) – It’s the second disappearance without a trace in Houghton County this winter.
Police tonight are seeking clues in the disappearance of 33-year-old Kenneth “Ryan” Clark of Hancock, MI – who simply vanished on Friday, January 13, 2017 from near the Lakeview Drive area in Franklin Township (Houghton County).
A major alert from the Houghton County Sheriff’s Department tonight about that missing man who goes by his middle name: “Ryan.”
In fact, in recent months U.P. Breaking News has been contacted by so many people who have unsolved murder cases, suspicious deaths and people not likely to go missing who vanish. U.P. Breaking News is in the early stages of our page documenting the dozens and dozens of cases in past 20 years. Many have happened in past five years. First was an older hunter is feared dead but officials have not found his body despite extensive search operations.
The list will hopefully be filled in during next few months – and we welcome submissions.
Elderly hunter missing in Houghton County since Friday, Nov. 18, 2016 in terrible weather near Tapiola, Michigan: Prayers from U.P. Breaking News – keeping the faith – to find 71-year-old Rodney Granroth
Police have found the stolen Chevy Silverado pickup of Forsyth Police Chief Gordie Warchock. However the suspects are still at large and considered armed and dangerous.
It is unclear if they back tracked from Delta County.
The chief’s pickup was found in the area of Cliffs Power Road near Shiras Hills and the Carp River.
—
UPDATE 9:00 a.m. 10-31-16
Two dangerous juvenile suspects are being sought after two vehicle thefts and the last belongs to a high-ranking law enforcement officer.
Both at slim, average-sized dark-haired, and white males – in their early teens – and apparently were last spotted in Delta County’s Ford River Township. It is unclear if the suspects have committed any other crimes like breaking and entering.
Remember these suspects are considered armed and dangerous. DELTA COUNTY residents and others should beware.
Police now believe the suspects made it to Ford River Township in Delta County driving a stolen pickup truck taken from a residence in Shiras Hills in Marquette.
The pickup is said to be a red or maroon 2014 Chevy pickup possible license plate 9hpz48 or something similar.
The stolen pickup truck belongs to Forsyth Township Police Chief Gordon “Gordie” J. Warchock
(Marquette, Michigan) – Two teen boy runaways from Great Lakes Recovery are now said to be armed and dangerous as an Upper Peninsula broadcast has been issued to all law enforcement agencies.
The Negaunee teens allegedly stole a car Sunday night after escaping earlier in the day from Great Lakes Recovery and then reportedly trying to me up with a female juvenile. If you have any information on these two young white males in their early teens please call your nearest law enforcement agency.
Lock all vehicles and remain vigilant. If you spot any suspicious looking people – please call the police because the youths could now be anywhere in the U.P. including still in Marquette County or delta County.
The manhunt involves numerous police agencies including the Marquette Police Department, A K-9 Unit, Michigan State Police, the Marquette County Sheriff’s Department, and Negaunee Police Department.
The wanted teens may even have fled to the Deltas County area but were last spotted early today (Halloween 2016), Oct. 31, 2016 in the Marquette area.
For several hours early today police set up a perimeter around several exclusive Marquette neighborhoods on all sides of Shiras Hills off U.S.-41 south. This after a stolen car allegedly taken by the boys was recovered in the area. The stolen car is owned by Adam Karki of Negaunee. There were no injuries reported in the auto theft and police have found evidence allegedly linking the youths to the crime.
Police believe the suspects may now be armed with a handgun and shotgun ammo. One of the boys may be wearing a jacket that is said to be a referees jacket.
Scroll down to read previous stories
Halloween car thieves spark manhunt in Marquette Mountain and Mount Marquette and Shiras neighborhoods
(Marquette, MI) – A Halloween manhunt is underway this windy, cold and damp Monday morning in several exclusive Marquette, Michigan neighborhoods after a stolen vehicle was recovered by police and suspects were apparently spotted by witnesses.
A perimeter was been set up early today, Monday, Oct. 31, 2016 – around the Shiras Subdivision and as far west the Marquette Mountain area – Granite Pointe Drive and Division St. Several subdivisions are being searched. Police were hoping to see up eyes in all areas where the suspects could escape the manhunt – and the weather is no help.
In fact, even the time of year wasn’t a big help as police reportedly had to check several Halloween displays including a very large artificial pumpkin.
The manhunt involves numerous police agencies including the Marquette Police Department, A K-9 Unit, Michigan State Police, the Marquette County Sheriff’s Department, and Negaunee Police Department.
The Negaunee Police Department is involved in the manhunt because the agency was already investigating the case of two teen runaway boys.
It had not been confirmed that the teen boys from Negaunee were involved in the auto theft case, but reportedly witnesses described two youths running from the area that may fit the descriptions of the youths.
One of boys was in shorts and the other an orange Hoodie.
ORV rider ditches Marquette County Deputies – who launch manhunt, seize ORV
By Greg Peterson Owner, News Director U.P. Breaking News 906-273-2433
(Marquette, MI) – A midnight manhunt from an ORV driver – who eluded police twice – continued into the early hours of this morning manhunt in the dark woods, bumpy trails and rivers of the Forestville area of Marquette Township.
Officers from numerous agencies and a dog were used in the search.
U.P. Breaking News is aware of the suspect and is withholding his name until arrested. However a check at 9 a.m. today confirmed that the suspect or suspects were not in custody. It is not clear if the driver was the only passenger on the four-wheeler.
“They have ditched us twice now,” those frustrated words from a Marquette County Sheriff’s Department deputy late Saturday summed up the situation that led to a manhunt for an ORV and its rider.
“We’ve lost them again,” the deputy said Saturday night, October, 15, 2016 in Marquette Township.
The chase for the dark colored four-wheeler – led to the dense woods in Forestville.
Harbor Hills Subdivision Marquette Township
the dispatch times for both chases were in the hour approaching midnight Saturday at 11:11 p.m. and again at 11:44 p.m.
Among those assisting in the search for the speeding ORV were Marquette Police, Michigan State Police and a K-9 police dog was called in to hunt for the suspects.
Officers set up between a bridge on Forestville Road heading towards the city along a power line.
“I’m on a trail along Forestville Road,” a running and out of breath deputy told the dispatcher. “I’m out with the ORV and he’s on a trail around here somewhere.”
“There’s a foot trail that continues into the woods – follow it – and you will find us and the four-wheeler, and see if we can get K-9 down here,” another deputy said.
“He keeps trying to get across the bridge,” a deputy said while chasing the suspects.
“I’m just going towards the light that’s all I am doing,” said another one of the numerous officers following trails in the Forestville area looking for the suspect.
H’s probably heading for the city on this trail there – probably toward the power line,” said a deputy as the various law enforcement units closed in on the ORV.
“No he’s on the trail there – the one you tried to go down – and we’re on the power line heading towards him.
This is a dense and tricky area even during daylight – but its treacherous at night with a uneven footpaths, a winding trail system and power lines
“We went north and east on the trail but we haven’t hit the power line,” an officer said.
A wrecker service was called to Forestville to haul away the four-wheeler, however it had to be driven out of the woods by authorities.
“We can tow this four-wheeler (but) – we’re going to have to drive it out basically” to Forestville Road, said one deputy.
The suspect was wearing a blue jacket and a black helmet when he fled.
“I just burning my dog out trying to find you guys,” said the K-9 officer to other police in the woods who wanted to know if he could see their flashlights. “Give me a minute and I will find you.”
If the suspect is rounded up, any possible charges will be decided by the Marquette County Prosecutor’s Office. Fleeing and eluding may be one of the charges.
Three missing people including a boy were found – and their boat – about four miles off shore in Lake Superior thanks to help from Bruce’s Legacy sonar and boat
Listen to the interview with the head of Bruce’s Legacy – whose sonar found the boat on the third day of searching
By Greg Peterson
U.P. Breaking News has confirmed that three people missing for two weeks in Lake Superior have been found along with their boat about four to five miles off shore in about 300 feet of water.
The incident remains a scene – and recovery efforts are next.
Numerous officials remain on the scene including Houghton County and the U.S. Coast Guard.
All three victims and the boat were located but officials are not saying much more.
The first sonar images of the scene were recorded about 11 a.m. Tributes to the victims are already on social media. They left on Sept. 17, 2016 – two weeks ago today (Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016) – for an afternoon of Lake Trout Fishing near Big reef in Keweenaw Bay.
They are:
61-year-old Keith Karvonen of Atlantic Mine, who is a seasoned veteran of Lake Superior and boat owner
43-year-old Steven Chartre and his 9-year-old son, Ethan Chartre, both of Ishpeming, who missed a family fish fry sparking the massive search.
A Black River Falls, Wisconsin nonprofit came to the aid of Upper Peninsula families searching for three members who recently disappeared on Keweenaw Bay without a trace – until today.
Officials from Bruce’s Legacy are only charging expenses – and its board chair Keith Cormican – is at the helm of a search boat that has deployed sonar radar – and has an underwater camera that can investigate any significant hits on the sonar.
Cormican reports the business owners of the Keweenaw has been treating him with warmth and thanks.
Cormican was called by Tom Crossmon – one of the friends of missing boat captain Keith Karvonen who has helped raise money to defray search costs. The U.S. Coast Guard and the Canadian Coast Guard both conducted a massive search for the boaters without turning up a clue. Family is hoping the public will help defray the costs of the underwater searching
61-year-old Keith Karvonen of Atlantic Mine, who is a seasoned veteran of Lake Superior and boat owner
43-year-old Steven Chartre and his 9-year-old son, Ethan Chartre, both of Ishpeming, who missed a family fish fry sparking the massive search.
Bruce’s Legacy is a volunteer organization providing emergency assistance, education, public safety awareness and search and recovery operations for drowned victims to provide resolution for families.
Bruce’s Legacy is a 501 (C)(3) volunteer organization providing emergency assistance, education, public safety awareness and search and recovery operations for drowned victims to provide resolution for families.
Notice on facebook page:
We arrived in the UP of MI last night to join up with Tom Crossmon to help locate these three that went missing while fishing in Lake Superior, one being a 9 year old. The only thing to work off from is a cell ping. Working 5 miles out and in 300-400′. We had some waves making it very tough to get good images Tomorrow the wind is to switch and hope make for better day.
URGENT – U.P. Breaking News Bulletin: We have sad news to report. Officials are reporting that sonar images located that 14-foot boat and all three victims Missing in the Copper Country for two weeks – in Lake Superior about 4 miles off shore – More when we have it.
(Houghton County, Michigan – somewhere on Keweenaw Bay/Lake Superior) – Today was the second day of using underwater sonar in Lake Superior to try to find evidence in the disappearance of three northern Michigan residents who vanished two week’s ago tomorrow (Sat., Oct. 1, 2016) while lake trout fishing in Keweenaw Bay after leaving the boat launch on the Portage Canal.
A Black River Falls, Wisconsin nonprofit has come to the aid of Upper Peninula families searching for three members who recently disappeared on Keweenaw Bay without a trace.
Officials from Bruce’s Legacy are only charging expenses – and its board chair Keith Cormican – is at the helm of a search boat that has deployed sonar radar – and has an underwater camera that can investigate any significant hits on the sonar.
The search is expected to continue all weekend if the weather holds – as seas under 2 feet are best – or until something is found. Anything. Residents of the Copper Country have been helping search – with winter around the corner – and officials hope if you find anything that might be related to the 14-foot boat to please treat like evidence – do not handle – and call police asap.
Cormican reports the business owners and residents of the Keweenaw have already been treating him with warmth and thanks.
Cormican was called by Tom Crossmon – one of the friends of missing boat captain Keith Karvonen who has helped raise money to defray search costs. The U.S. Coast Guard and the Canadian Coast Guard both conducted a massive search for the boaters without turning up a clue.
Family is hoping the public will help defray the costs of additional searches including underwater.
61-year-old Keith Karvonen of Atlantic Mine, who is a seasoned veteran of Lake Superior and boat owner
43-year-old Steven Chartre and his 9-year-old son, Ethan Chartre, both of Ishpeming, who missed a family fish fry sparking the massive search.
Bruce’s Legacy is a volunteer organization providing emergency assistance, education, public safety awareness and search and recovery operations for drowned victims to provide resolution for families.
Bruce’s Legacy is a 501 (C)(3) volunteer organization providing emergency assistance, education, public safety awareness and search and recovery operations for drowned victims to provide resolution for families.
Notice on facebook page:
We arrived in the UP of MI last night to join up with Tom Crossmon to help locate these three that went missing while fishing in Lake Superior, one being a 9 year old. The only thing to work off from is a cell ping. Working 5 miles out and in 300-400′. We had some waves making it very tough to get good images Tomorrow the wind is to switch and hope make for better day.
Hopes hang on Michigan State Police probe and the spotting of something – anything– no matter how small – that washes up on any Lake Superior shoreline
By Greg Peterson
Owner, News Director
U.P. Breaking News
906-273-2433
(Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan) – In one of its most unusual and massive searches in Lake Superior history, U.S. Coast Guard officials are very concerned about why nothing has been found in the disappearance of the 14-foot boat with three aboard
Due to cell phones and a videotape near the boat launch – the USCG is even confident that the trio left shore – and started fishing on that fateful afternoon Saturday, September 17, 2016.
“We had some footage from a camera near the launch site ,” said Commander Carolyn Moberley, Response Department Head at U.S. Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste Marie.
The USCG says it is “incredibly uncommon not to find debris,” Moberley said. “We all agree it is unusual not to find an debris.”
“It’s highly likely that we would have found anything on the surface of the water during that time,” Moberley said.
But even a catastrophic event should have left behind some evidence and a search of nearly 15,000 nautical square miles turned up small objects but nothing from the boat or its passengers
Things are not adding up.
Meanwhile, U.P. Breaking News donated $100 to the fundraising effort to help find these people and hopes others will match or exceed.
Family is hoping the public will help defray the costs of additional search including underwater.
61-year-old Keith Karvonen of Atlantic Mine, who is a seasoned veteran of Lake Superior and boat owner
43-year-old Steven Chartre and his 9-year-old son, Ethan Chartre, both of Ishpeming, who missed a family fish fry sparking the massive search.
See our previous stories to get a list of the many boats, helicopters and air planes from two counties were involved including C-130s – and high tech stuff from the U.S. Air Force.
“We thoroughly searched the surface of the water,” Moberley said adding searchers took into consideration things like ping locations, time, weather, winds, and currents.
In fact, in addition to the video of the three leaving – the USCG even has conformation from two cell phones aboard the vessel that they two man and a boy had actually started fishing near Big Reef in Keweenaw Bay. That’s where the trail ends.
“We do know that they got underway based on a couple of items,” Moberley said. “We also have the information from the cell phone pings.”
Using high tech assets from the U.S. Air Force, the cell phone information was analyzed and “that did give us confirmation that they were in the Bay there fishing in the afternoon in the early afternoon,” Moberley said. High-tech USAF forensics provided “our best most relevant data,’ Moberley said.
“They were fishing early that afternoon”and was the “basis for our search effort,” Moberley said.
“We do have both cell phones” that provided similar times and locations and data “where they stopped transmitting,” Moberley said of the sudden death of the cell phone information. When pressed, USCG officials can only point to one incident in northern Lake Michigan involving one missing man that resulted in no evidence being recovered.
Never in modern Upper Peninsula history have three people vanished without a trace.
The three were believed aboard a 14-foot boat headed out for an afternoon of Lake Trout fishing near Big Reef in Keweenaw Bay. If the boat and its three passengers sank – it seems likely the massive ground, air and water search would have turned up something. Anything. Even the U.S. Coast Guard acknowledges that its all but unprecedented in the Upper Great Lakes.
A little over a week ago three people – two men and a nine-year-old boy – were walking around the Keweenaw Peninsula like everyone else. And then – poof as if magic – they are gone. Instead of attending a 5 p.m. fish fry a week ago Saturday (9-18-16), the vanished leaving behind only a vehicle and a trailer.
A surveillance video from near the boat launch and a cell phone ping are the only known clues in the case. Friends, relatives and the concerned have scoured sections of the long and winding eastern Keweenaw shoreline that stretches over 100 miles. It’s 75 miles by road from Baraga to Copper Harbor.
Some believe the three disappeared in a catastrophic event, some hope they are alive an stranded on a remote Lake Superior shoreline – but there are also growing whispers in the community that foul play should be investigated. Some out of frustration and some out of suspicions.
But the USCG is quick to point out that no matter how rare – a disappearance without a trace is not unheard of citing that case in Lake Michigan – though this Lake Superior disappearance has seasoned officials wondering how it could happen. Sophisticated mapping and projection tools involving currents, winds and other factors that would suggest where the boat may have drifted.
They just vanished – missing are 61-year-old Keith Karvonen of Atlantic Mine, MI; and 43-year-old Steven Chartre of Negaunee/Ishpeming area and his 9-year-old son Ethan.
Family is hoping the public will help defray the costs of additional search including underwater.
61-year-old Keith Karvonen of Atlantic Mine, who is a seasoned veteran of Lake Superior and boat owner
43-year-old Steven Chartre and his 9-year-old son, Ethan Chartre, both of Ishpeming, who missed a family fish fry sparking the massive search.
“These are big big waters,” however, the USCG believes it is “incredibly uncommon not to find debris,” Moberley said. “We all agree it is unusual not to find any debris,” she said.
The search found lots of small objects like a small metal bucket and sticks. “We were finding objects on the surface”
Now its up to the Michigan State Police and others to solve this case – but any evidence of the boat of its crew should not be touched and call officials immediately.
“We appreciate the eyes on the shore,” she said adding the USCG wants the families to know that their agency and others tried their hardest to find the missing trio. “Our hearts go out to these families,” Moberley said.
The search covered 14,696 nautical square miles of Lake Superior.
The coordinated efforts by the USCG, the Canadian Coast Guard, plus state and local officials covered more than 14,600 nautical squares miles of Lake Superior and over 150 hours of asset use liked boats, planes and helicopters.
The boat was headed for Lake Trout fishing in Keweenaw Bay – apparently a bit closer to the east side of the large bay near Pequaming. In fact, the missing of a family family fish fry is the reason loved ones became upset and notified officials who quickly launched a four night massive air and water search – while loved ones started combing shorelines.
The USCG launched one of its most massive searches in U.P. history including huge C-130s from the Canada and the USCG in North Carolina. Plus numerous USCG large boats and helicopters were launched from across the Great Lakes. Nighttime search gadgets aboard one plane helped make night searching possible.
The special equipment aboard the C-130s are great for searching for long hours and the dark of night – flying over the lonely nether waters on a dark Lake Superior night.
The three were headed to a favorite fishing area called Big Reef beneath Lake Superior .
This rare no-evidence disappearance of a 14-foot boat in Keweenaw Bay that had apparently launched from the western side of Keweenaw Bay.
The boated launched from from the Western side of Keweenaw Bay into the Keweenaw Waterway and then into Keweenaw Bay – a large bay whose southern tip and end – laps onto the small villages of Baraga and L’Anse.
The launch point is on the Keweenaw Waterway – a canal splits the Keweenaw Peninsula also known as the Copper Country.
“It is unusual, you known, there is no norm,” said Commander Carolyn Moberley, Chief of Response for the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie.
“We would expect to find some debris,” she said just after 2 p.m. On Tuesday – as the search enters a fourth night.
“There are always unique situations,” she said.
“We are working on the possibility that they might still be out there floating in a boat,” Commander Moberley said.
USCG Officials released a computer image to U.P. Breaking News that takes many factors into effect while listing possible outcome locations – and these factors include wind speed/direction, water currents, the location the boat “may have gotten into trouble” and/or “possibly drifted.”
“The object you are looking for may be in these” models and search patterns – and then send numerous various types of USCG and planes, helicopters and search boats.
“We’ve really saturated the area, from the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula and if you drew a line south” the search has covered that entire area, she said. “We have really saturated that area with our search boats.”
“So we have begun expanding out further into Lake Superior heading over to the east, the northeast and a little bit to the north,” Commander Moberley explained after three days of search in the Keweenaw Bay with C-130s, helicopters and boats from two countries.
Searchers will “cover more of the open lake area” of Lake Superior to hopefully find the vessel or any kind of debris in that area, Moberley said.
USCG Officials released a computer image to U.P. Breaking News that takes many factors into effect while listing possible outcome locations – and these factors include win, speed/direction, currents, where the boat “may have gotten into trouble” and/or “possibly drifted.”
“The object you are looking for may be in these” models and search patterns – and then send numerous various types of USCG and planes, helicopters and search boats.
The USCG is grateful for the C-130 plane and other efforts by the Canadian Coast Guard C-130s from the Canadian Coast Guard and USCG Air Station in Elizabeth City, NC that provided the C-130 Super Hercules airplane.
USCG Air Station Cape Cod in Massachusetts is providing a HC-144A Ocean Sentry airplane – or “fixed wing” air craft as its called by USCG
USCG Station Portage sent a 47-foot motor lifeboat and USCG Station Marquette sent 45-foot response boat.
The 140-foot USCG ice breaking tug Biscayne Bay has been sent by USCG Station St. Ignace
The search includes USCG MH-65B “Dolphin” helicopters from USCG units in Traverse City and Detroit.
The Canadian Coast Guard Trenton provided a CC-130J Hercules – and massive C-130.
Commander Moberley urged anyone with info to call and thanks all those who have provided information and to the Canadian Coats Guard for its invaluable help.
SAULT STE MARIE, Michigan — U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard crews are searching the waters of Lake Superior and the Keweenaw Peninsula Sunday for two adults and one child who went missing Saturday night in the vicinity of the East Portage Canal of Houghton-Hancock, Michigan.
The adults’ and child’s names are not being released at this time.
Coast Guard crews responded Saturday night after receiving a report that the group had missed a fish fry they were supposed to attend that evening. The boat’s trailer and truck were found at the marina.
Searching are crews from Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, Coast Guard Station Portage, Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and an aircrew from the Canadian Coast Guard.
If the public has any information about this case, please contact Coast Guard Sector Sault Sainte Marie Command Center at 906-635-3233.
More information will be released as it becomes available.
COAST GUARD SECTOR SAULT SAINTE MARIE 337 Water Street Sault Sainte Marie, MI 49783-9501 (906) 635-3217
Coast Guard Sector Sault Sainte Marie is responsible for all Coast Guard missions on Lake Superior, northern Lakes Michigan and Huron, and surrounding navigable waterways to include Search and Rescue, Law Enforcement, Aids to Navigation, Marine Safety, and Homeland Security.
Located on the St. Mary’s River in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, the Sector is the operational and administrative commander of 11 subordinate field units, which include eight Multi-Mission Small Boat Stations, one Marine Safety Unit, and two Aids to Navigation Teams.
Sector Sault Sainte Marie’s missions are accomplished by a dedicated workforce of 248 Active Duty, 70 Reserve, and 26 civilian personnel. The Sector’s vessel inventory includes two 47′ MLB’s, six 45′ RB-M’s; one 49′ BUSL; two 20′ AB-S, three 26′ TANB, and eleven 25′ RB-S.
“Drugs in Detroit are being spread like a cancer here in the U.P.,” said U.S. District Court Judge R. Allan Edgar, who was presiding over his final sentencings before retirement. “There is really no excuse for it.”
Corrie Venta Ruth, left, was sentenced to 41 months or three years and five months in federal prison. Stephanie Rae Hatch, right, was sentenced to 33 months or two years and nine months in federal prison. Video still by Greg Peterson
Damon Ramone Belcher received 46 months or three years and 10 months in federal prison. Video still by Greg Peterson
(Marquette, MI) – A large heroin and crack cocaine pipeline from Detroit to the Upper Peninsula is being dismantled by federal prosecutors who oversaw the sentencing of three co-conspirators last week (June 22, 2016) and there are huge hints that more criminal charges and indictments are expected against others in the drug trafficking organization that can be violent.
“Drugs in Detroit are being spread like a cancer here in the U.P.,” said U.S. District Court Judge R. Allan Edgar, who was presiding over his final sentencings before retirement. “There is really no excuse for it.”
“Today we are dealing with the Houghton branch of the conspiracy,” the judge said, noting that the kingpin of the conspiracy was also bringing “heroin and crack cocaine to Escanaba.”
Federal prosecutor Paul Lochner said the cases are important to the U.P. because the cycles brought by highly addictive drugs have left a “wrath of social problems” on Yooper and national doorsteps – like meth, heroin and cocaine.
Even though the nickname of a Detroit drug baron and his wife were brought up several times during the sentencings, one federal official pleaded with U.P. Breaking News not to use the name because “lives are at stake” and suggested a temporary pseudonym be used in news coverage.
The kingpin is “good about hiding facts of the conspiracy” from each employee, federal officials said.
For the purposes of this story only and to protect lives, U.P. Breaking News will use the pseudonyms “Mr. Drug Kingpin” and “Mrs. Drug Kingpin.”
“Drugs in Detroit are being spread like a cancer here in the U.P.,” said U.S. District Court Judge R. Allan Edgar, who was presiding over his final sentencings before retirement. “There is really no excuse for it.“
Corrie Venta Ruth, left, was sentenced to 41 months or three years and five months in federal prison. Stephanie Rae Hatch, right, was sentenced to 33 months or two years and nine months in federal prison. Video still by Greg Peterson
Damon Ramone Belcher received 46 months or three years and 10 months in federal prison. Video still by Greg Peterson
Federal Judge R. Allen Edgar handed out these sentences:
Damon Ramone Belcher, a.k.a. defendant “D” received 46 months or three years and 10 months in federal prison
Corrie Venta Ruth, a.k.a. defendant “C” was sentenced to 41 months or three years and five months in federal prison
Stephanie Rae Hatch sentenced to 33 months or two years and nine months in federal prison
All were interviewed and officially arrested by Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team (UPSET) agent Ron Koski in Houghton, MI
The three sentencing were each handled separately. But had several uncommon ties – sidebars.
In a rare event during sentencing, an official sidebar with the judge was requested by prosecutors and defense attorneys with their clients at their side. Sidebars are common during trials and sometimes pretrial hearings but rarely during sentencing.
Just to make sure no-one could hear what was being said, federal court officials turned on a white noise machine.
At issue is a major federal investigation into the Detroit to the U.P. of a heroin and crack cocaine pipeline – and high level trafficking of drugs in others areas.
Cooperating witnesses lives may be in jeopardy.
Federal Prosecutors in Marquette, MI: Asst. U.S. Attorney Hannah Bobee, left, and Asst. U.S. Attorney Paul Lochner, right.
Federal Prosecutor Paul Lochner painted Ruth as one of “multiple bagmen” in the organization and all said all three were in the game because of greed – “trying to make money.”
Lochner said he hopes the prison sentences will be a “deterrent” and send the message to would-be drug couriers that “easy money is not the answer.”
“It’s a dumb decision,” Lochner said. “The answer isn’t selling narcotics.”
Damon Ramone Belcher and Corrie Venta Ruth were indicted on two counts each of felony “distribution of heroin.”
On Nov. 18, 2015 in Houghton and Lake Linden, Belcher and Ruth “knowingly and intentionally distributed heroin, and aided and abetted the distribution of heroin,” the indictments state.
The defendants and their lawyer ask for leniency:
During each sentencing, Assistant U.S. Public Defender Elizabeth A. LaCosse tried to paint her clients in the best possible light and pleaded for leniency because their respective roles were minor compared to others being investigated in the coke-heroin pipeline.
LaCosse argue that in federal sentencing guidelines there have long been “powder and crack cocaine disparities” in sentencing – that the judge noted was important because crack is much more addictive and powerful – the cooked base of powdered cocaine.
LaCosse reminded the judge about recently changed sentencing guidelines set by the United States Sentencing Commission and that the judge has the discretion to give a prison term appropriate for each person’s involvement in the conspiracy that take into consideration the actual drug weights of involving each defendant.
The judge said he sentenced all three on the “low end” of the federal sentencing guidelines because of their cooperation and relatively minor roles in the conspiracy.
However, Public Defender LaCosse asked the judge to consider an even lower departure because future sentencing commission edicts are expected to give judges even more desecration, but the retiring judge appeared uninterested in reading the tea leaves.
Saying I am a lowly judge, the Judge Edgar said he was going to “administer the guidelines as given” and issues raised by LaCosse are “questions for the sentencing commission to decide.”
After the heart-wrenching information offered by the defense, Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul D. Lochner reminded the judge that the cases are the latest example of the misery brought by drug traffickers in the U.P. – where an untold number of Yoopers are addicted.
Damon Ramone Belcher received 46 months or three years and 10 months in federal prison. Video still by Greg Peterson
Damon Ramone Belcher:
With the holidays approaching, Belcher needed “Christmas money” and made a dumb decision.
“He was unemployed” and desperate so Belcher “went back into crime,” said LaCosse, the court-appointed federal defense attorney.
LaCosse argued Belcher’s case is a “unique situation” because he was involved for only “14 days.”
Belcher “was hired (in Detroit) to sit on the bag” of cocaine and heroin as it was transported to the Houghton area by unnamed female conspirators, LaCosse said. Belcher “had no proprietary interest in the conspiracy.”
Damon Ramone Belcher received 46 months or three years and 10 months in federal prison. Video still by Greg Peterson
The judge described Belcher as an “enforcer” with a “limited function.” LaCosse described Belcher as “hired help” at the “bottom rung” of the drug pipeline.
“This is a bigger conspiracy” that could involve “all of the U.P.,” LaCosse said. Belcher is not “aware of subsections of the conspiracy.”
LaCosse argued that it wasn’t Belcher “did not transport drugs into the U.P.” However Judge Edgar said Belcher knew about the drugs in the vehicle and his job was to “accompany a female who was carrying drugs” often stashed in private places on their bodies.
“Two weeks and a $10,000 wire transfer” was the entirety of Belcher’s involvement, LaCosse said.
“He is not friends with all these people” involved in the heroin and cocaine conspiracy,” LaCosse said.
LaCosse said Belcher’s family depends on him and that he has taken “ownership (of his crime) and has learned responsibility.”
Belcher has a “mass on his colon” and may “require surgery in the near future,” LaCosse said.
Speaking to the judge before his sentence, Belcher said “I accept full responsibility – I did participate in the conspiracy.”
“I made a bad decision,” Belcher said. “I hope the Court shows some leniency.”
“I accept that what I did was wrong,” Belcher said.
Prosecutor Lochner said Belcher was “only being held responsible for the drugs he was involved with” and the bottom line is Belcher was “hired to come to the U.P. to sell cocaine Houghton.”
“A job he was doing well,” Lochner said. Heroin, cocaine, meth, painkillers (opioids), and other drugs that are being driven into the U.P. are “very addictive and very damaging” to the addict and the community.
Lochner said Belcher may claim he was after Christmas money but was the muscle in a smuggling ring – even if for a brief period..
Locking up people like Belcher and the others in the conspiracy serves “as a deterrent,” Lockner said.
Mr. Belcher should “consider people in Houghton who were fed coke (cocaine) by people like yourself.”
Woman smokes marijuana pipe http://www.psypost.org Photo credit: Jonathan Piccolo (Creative Commons)
“There has been a big spike in heroin use” in the U.P., Lochner said. From “oxycodone to heroin” the illicit drugs have been “devastating to the (U.P.) community.”
Lockner said Belcher’s “job was to make sure drugs went out and (bring) money back in.”
“They did accompany females from Detroit,” the judge said. The muscle escorting the women and drugs – like Belcher and Ruth – “were entrusted by suppliers downstate to protect the drugs,” Judge Edgar said.
The judge was not happy with Belcher’s criminal record that included “an armed robbery conviction.” Mr. Belcher got “back into criminal activity again – you were up here to make a buck,” the judge said.
As Belcher was being led away by U.S. Marshals, the judge offered a kind word.
“Good luck on your surgery,” Judge Edgar said.
Corrie Venta Ruth:
Ruth “was an idiot for trying to make quick money,” LaCosse said, adding Ruth is a “very nice person – not a street thug.”
However, LaCosse said Ruth grew up in a life surrounded by criminal “recidivism.” She asked Ruth be given credit for time served as he spent two months in the Houghton County Jail before “the (federal) government took over the case.”
Ruth told the judge he apologizes for bringing and “selling drugs” in the U.P.
“I want to apologize to the court,” said Ruth, in asking the judge to show “leniency.” “I apologize to the (U.P.) community.”
“I took the stupid easy route – this is not what I planned to do with myself,” Ruth said.
LaCosse said Ruth “didn’t know where he was going” when ordered by the Drug Kingpins but “did know it involved drug sales.” Ruth was the muscle hired to protect the shipment while the driving was handled by Damon Ramone Belcher, prosecutors said.
Ruth “had no idea about (the) Escanaba” arm of the drug ring, LaCosse said.
Corrie Venta Ruth, left, was sentenced to 41 months or three years and five months in federal prison. Stephanie Rae Hatch, right, was sentenced to 33 months or two years and nine months in federal prison. Video still by Greg Peterson
Stephanie Rae Hatch
Hatch allowed those involved in the conspiracy to “use her residence as a place to stay and to sell heroin and cocaine base” commonly known as crack cocaine, the indictments state.
Defense Attorney Theodore J. Greeley
“She was not an organizer or a leader” in the conspiracy said defense attorney Theodore Joseph Greeley, of the prominent U.P. law firm Casselman & Henderson P.C. Of Marquette.
Hatch was “not a decision maker” and only knew about the Houghton part of the drug ring – not the Escanaba tentacle, said defense attorney Greeley, the son of U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy P. Greeley.
Hatch has suffered from substance abuse since childhood – or three quarters of her life – including smoking pot at age 9, drinking alcohol at age 11 and started using cocaine at age 15 – addition to other drugs, defense attorney Greeley said.
She first “had trouble with the law” at age 9, said Greeley.
Greeley argued that judge because crack cocaine is highly addictive – it is not always “cheaper.”
Corrie Venta Ruth, left, was sentenced to 41 months or three years and five months in federal prison. Stephanie Rae Hatch, right, was sentenced to 33 months or two years and nine months in federal prison. Video still by Greg Peterson
Hatch wire transferred money from Houghton drug sales to Detroit area drug suppliers and their associates, the indictments state.
An admitted drug addict, Hatch allowed her home to be “back up house” for the conspiracy to stash and sell crack cocaine and heroin, Greeley told the judge, admitting his client sent wire transfers to the Detroit kingpins from a U.P. Walmart.
The conspiracy facilitates Houghton “drug addicts” who sometimes become dealers “trying to make money” and feed their addictions, prosecutor Lochner said in general but specifically referring to Hatch’s involvement in the conspiracy.
Lockner said once addicts can not afford their drugs “its spirals” and they sometimes sell drugs.
“Next is the sales of drugs,” Lochner said, adding “it supplies their habit – locals help out” the conspiracy.
“It is a public hazard to have her out there” in the community, said Judge Edgar.
Edgar described Hatch as a “local courier” and who “wired drug money to Detroit or someplace.”
“Her home was a staging point for sales,” Judge Edgar said. “She played a pivotal role making sure the money got down” to Mr and Mrs. Drug Kingpin.
Hatch “understood” that she and her home were “essential to the success of the operation in Houghton,” Judge Edgar said,
Unlike her co-defendants, Hatch did not make a statement to the judge prior to sentencing. Hatch’s parents and teenage daughter drove up from Grand Rapids to attend the hearing and show support for their family member.
The Plea Agreements:
Under the agreements, the trio agreed to “fully cooperate” in drug investigations including with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team (UPSET).
Under an agreement with federal prosecutors, Hatch, Belcher pleaded guilty to count one – felony conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine base.
The charges carried a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison that has no parole but the smaller time drug runners received much lower sentences under a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.
The judge waived fines due to defendant’s “inability to pay.”
As part of the plea agreement with the trio, the judge dismissed felony counts two and three – possession with intent to distribute heroin and possession with intent to distribute cocaine base. He also dismissed felony counts four and five against Belcher and Ruth.
Evidence obtained by prosecutors included cocaine base (crack cocaine), heroin, records of wire transfers, two undercover drug buys, prerecorded buy money, cell phone data, Walmart surveillance video, drug packaging, photographs, video of interview with Hatch.
During Ruth’s sentencing, the judge asked about the role of Mrs. Drug Kingpin (and other unnamed females) in the drug network – noting Mr. Drug Kingpin “used” his wife “to protect drugs.”
The federal prosecutor picked his words carefully in describing the hiding of drugs by female couriers.
“Their role is salient,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Lochner of Marquette. “It’s unique to females – let’s leave it at that.”
The defendants “conspired, confederated, and agreed with each other, and others, known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin” according to a five-page federal grand jury indictment of the three drug runners.
The judge waived fines due to inability to pay and all were sentenced to three years supervised release after prison, a $100 special assessment and must find jobs upon release from prison perform 20-hours weekly community service.
The trio were ordered to submit to DNA testing and cannot possess firearms, drugs or alcohol, testing and treatment for substance abuse and compete the cognitive behavioral treatment program.
The three were ordered to participate in a Michigan Bureau of Prisons 500-hour residential substance abuse program.
All three were given three years supervised released – a federal form of probation. Despite entering into plea agreements, the judge reminded the trio about their legal avenues for appealing his sentence. The three must complete a “cognitive treatment program.”
Damon Ramone Belcher received 46 months or three years and 10 months in federal prison. Video still by Greg Peterson
They can no longer posses guns, no drugs, no alcohol, undergoing regular drug and alcohol testing, and they can not visit establishments (bars) that serve alcohol, plus attend drug abuse treatment if determined appropriate by the U.S. Probation office. After release, they must serve 20 hours of weekly community service until they find a job.
A Marquette native, Edgar spent most of his career in Tennessee, first an attorney and then elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives. President Ronald Reagan appointed Edgar as a U.S. District judge in 1985.
His parents me at the Civilian Conservation Corps camp in Big Bay, MI.
Until age 13, Edgar lived as a child on West Magnetic Street in Marquette, MI
The family moved in 1953 when his his father got job in Tennessee.
The future Judge Edgar still spent summers in the U.P. with his grandparents and worked a summer job out at the exclusive Huron Mountain Club in Big Bay, MI.
Photo of Judge R. Allan Edgar by David Laprad, Hamilton County Herald
OxyContin causes more overdoses than heroin and cocaine combined, according to a report by the Centers for Drug Control. Vitualis/Flickr/Creative Commons
Northern Michigan tribe accuses state of Michigan of persecuting tribes by unleashing federal crimes against Native Americans and interfering with tribal commerce in fight over cigarette taxes
(Above) KBIC charges as stated in 20-count federal complaint
Seneca versus the state of Michigan: Tax hungry Michigan settles tobacco agreements with 10 of Michigan’s 12 Native American tribes – but two Upper Peninsula tribes says its government creep into tribal business and KBIC tells Michigan to back off
U.P. Breaking News Exclusive: KBIC tells state of Michigan to stop committing federal crimes against Native Americans in ongoing dispute over cigarette taxes
(Marquette, MI) – The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community is not backing down – and in fact is ratcheting up – its decades long battle with the state of Michigan over the taxing of cigarettes.
Reacting to the threat of possible criminal charges and claiming its being coerced by the state, the tribe recently filed a 20-count, 60-page federal tribal rights lawsuit against four state officials in charge of enforcing and collecting taxes for cigarette sales and more.
The May 20 suit stems from large cigarette seizures by state police including in February and December 2015.
During the the Feb. 8 incident, state police seized of 184 cases of untaxed Seneca cigarettes amounting to over 11,000 cartons valued at nearly $200,000 during separate traffic stops by state police.
Tribal officials said the confiscated smokes were going to be sold on the reservation – therefore the state has no right to seize the cigarettes that are manufactured by Native Wholesale Supply Company, a tribal-chartered corporation that distributes tobacco products and is based in Perrysburg, NY on the Seneca Nation and operated by a Native American.
Meanwhile, in December over 3,300 cartons of untaxed Seneca brand smokes valued at nearly $66,000 were seized by state police. KBIC bought the cigarettes from an economic development arm of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. The cigarettes were confiscated after tribal member John Davis was stopped by state police on U.S. 41 in Ely Township in west Marquette County.
“Davis was stopped by Michigan State Trooper (Chris) Lajimodiere, purportedly for speeding. However, no
speeding citation was ever issued,” the lawsuit states. Under forfeiture laws, state police also confiscated the pickup truck Davis was driving and the trailer that was used to haul the smokes.
KBIC is asking for immediate relief from a federal judge in the form of an injunction to stop the state from illegally seizing untaxed tribal cigarettes in a scheme the tribe alleges violates federal law.
The suit names several articles in the U.S. Constitution including the “Supremacy” clause that prohibits the feds from “unilaterally claiming federal supremacy over Indian tribes,” and 1983 Indian Traders Statues that cover Native Americans doing business, and a “Commerce Clause” in the Constitution that protects Native American business owners. The suit also sites an 1842 treaty between the Chippewa and the U.S. government involving ceded lands and commercial trade in Indian Country.
The seizures were scored by the MSP Eighth District Tobacco Enforcement Team assisted by MSP Troopers from the Iron Mountain Post. State police stopped KBIC cigarette delivery trucks in Iron County and Marquette County. The Michigan Attorney General’s office is continuing its investigation into the latest state police seizures of cigarettes without a tax stamp.
After the seizures, the tribe issued a statement saying it will not “be forced by the state of Michigan to enter into a tax agreement that would subject KBIC to a one-sided, burdensome state process.”
The lawsuit is the latest in an ongoing tax battle between the state and the KBIC. Michigan has imposed an excise tax on cigarettes since 1947 and that tax has risen many times bringing in nearly a billion dollars annually to the state to help finance education, the Healthy Michigan Fund, and the Medicaid Fund.
KBIC says it is illegal for the state to seize cigarettes intended for its members – and cited the state’s complicated tax systems including the Michigan Sales Tax Act, the Michigan Use Tax Act and the Michigan Tobacco Products Tax Act (aka Tobacco Products Tax Act).
Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson
Michigan Treasurer Nick A. Khouri
The defendants are Michigan Treasurer Nick A. Khouri, Michigan Secretary of State (SOS) Ruth Johnson, Michigan Treasury Dept. Native American Affairs Specialist Walter A. Fratzke; and Michigan State Police Sergeant Christopher Crowley, who is responsible for enforcing and investigating violations of Michigan tax law, including the Tobacco Products Tax Act
Upper Peninsula Breaking News left messages for KBIC tribal attorney Danielle Webb and Skip Durocher, a Minneapolis attorney representing the tribe. Messages seeking comment were sent via email to Tribal Council President Warren “Chris” Swartz, KBIC CEO Larry Denomie and asst. CEO Sarah Maki.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette
The Michigan Attorney General Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette’s office was efforting a possible statement even though the long Memorial Day weekend is underway. KBIC has over 3,600 enrolled members and over 1,000 live on the reservation or trust lands.
The tribe accuses state officials of illegally enforcing the Michigan Tobacco Products Tax Act, in “a manner that violates federal and state law and impermissibly restricts the Community’s rights to purchase, sell, and transport tobacco products free from unlawful Michigan tobacco products taxes and free from other unlawful and impermissible seizures and other burdens,” the suit states.
The suit accuses Michigan officials of enforcing the Use Tax Act in a manner that “violates federal and state law and impermissibly restricts the Community’s and Community members’ rights to purchase, lease, rent, use, store, and consume tangible personal property and services free from unlawful Michigan sales and use taxes and free from other unlawful and impermissible burdens.”
A 20-year agreement (1977-1997) between tribes and Michigan over smokes and other tribal tax issues was terminated by the state. That pact covered taxes on cigarettes and gas. After the state terminated the pact, KBIC began to sell tobacco products on reservation and trust land to both natives and non-natives without the state’s tax stamp. That agreement allowed tribal members to purchase many items without paying a state sales tax including cars, trucks, snowmobiles, boats, airplanes, homes and items needed to build a home.
In recent years, tribal members have submitted claims to the state on these items and other concerns like expensive prescriptions. The vast majority of the claims have been rejected, a handful were approved by the state, and others are missing in action, the lawsuit alleges.
The State has entered into tax agreements with 10 of the 12 federally recognized Indian tribes located in Michigan. Agreements have not been reached with Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. The burden of collecting and paying taxes on tobacco products is on the tribes – not something that sits well with KBIC officials.
The tribe sites additional hours for several employees each month to accurately determine how much is owed the state. Because the state requires the tribes to purchase cigarettes on which taxes have already been paid, among the duties of the tribe is to file tobacco tax forms – and that allows the state to hold on to tribal monies until the refund paperwork is filed.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy P. Greeley referred the case to a trial judge – the honorable federal judge Robert Holmes Bell – who ruled against the tribe in an earlier lawsuit..
The tribe lost a similar federal tribal rights lawsuit that was filed on March 27, 2008 and decided by the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 26, 2009 – as the appeals court upheld a ruling by Judge Bell that stated the court is “entering a judgment in favor of defendants on all of plaintiff’s remaining claims.”
In the 2008 suit, Judge Bell ruled KBIC “has not prevailed on the merits of its claims” and KBIC “is not entitled to permanent injunctive relief.” KBIC even lost its claim to cover attorney’s fees and other costs. However, in its suit, the tribe claims the judge left the door open to return to court depending on appeal’s court rulings on law important to the case.
The tribe is suffering an “economic burden” because the “tribal retailer must wait for tobacco tax refunds and suffers a loss of use of funds during this time period,” Judge Bell stated in his Sept. 2005 opinion on the original lawsuit.
However, Judge Bell ruled that “the state’s interests in collecting the cigarette tax clearly outweighs the tribe’s interests in marketing a tax exemption.”
Judge Bell noted the U.S. Supreme Court has “never approved a tax refund system for Indian cigarette sales” adding “there is no evidence” that the nation’s highest court “has ever considered a refund system such as that used by Michigan.”
“The revenue it derives from the sale of cigarettes to non-Indians comes not from value generated on the reservations but from the marketing of a state tax exemptions,” Judge Bell wrote. The KBIC “sales of untaxed cigarettes also threaten the economic welfare of non-tribal stores in the area that sell cigarettes”
In the early 2,000s, the Michigan State Police Tobacco Tax Team made numerous KBIC related raids in several U.P. Counties seizing thousands of cartons of untaxed smokes at locations that included the tribe’s casinos in Baraga and Harvey, plus the U.S. Postal Service regional distribution center in Kingsford.
The tribe says it will loose millions in revenue. In fact, its no secret that non-native smokers – who are paying high Michigan taxes on cigarettes sold on non-tribal lands – sometimes make special trips to KBIC casinos or to the Pines Convenience Center and Smoke Shop, the tribal convenience store on U.S.-41 in Baraga. The tribe also sells cigarettes at the Rez Stop, a gas station convenience store in L’Anse.
For example, KBIC stated in court documents its 2001 revenues from untaxed cigarettes of nearly $557,000 dropped to $126,000 in 2002. The tribe and state have worked on various ways to resolve the problem including quotas on how many untaxed cigarettes KBIC can sell each year to natives – and not the public.
However those efforts led to additional accusations including that one KBIC member who bought up to 150 cartons of tax-free cigarettes each month and was selling the smokes on the internet. Plus non-native retailers in the area complained to the state treasury department that the tribe had an unfair advantage selling untaxed cigarettes.
One state proposal involved a quota of 3.2 million untaxed cigarettes annually, but the tribe counter put the quota at 8 million individual cigarette sticks. In 2004, the tribe started limiting natives to two cartons per week of untaxed smokes at a cost of $25 per carton, while non-members would pay $30 per carton.
All the defendants are being sued “in official and individual capacities.”
Treasurer Khouri oversees an “agency that administers and enforces the Sales, Use, and Tobacco Products Tax Acts.” The department’s Native American Affairs Specialist Fratzke “is the department official charged with administering, enforcing and applying federal and state laws to Michigan tribes and tribal members as they involve Michigan taxes, including sales, use, and tobacco products taxes..”
MI SOS Johnson “manages and administers programs and services” including the Sales and Use Tax Acts” involving “motor vehicle transactions.” MSP Sgt. Crowley “coordinated, authorized, and executed the seizures of tobacco products” and other KBIC “community property at issue in this action.”
Agreements between the state and tribes are in place with these communities:
https://turtletalk.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/michigan-appellee-brief.pdf
Fletcher is Professor of Law at Michigan State University College of Law and Director of the Indigenous Law and Policy Center. He is the Chief Justice of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians Supreme Court and also sits as an appellate judge for the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, the Hoopa Valley Tribe, and the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians. He is a member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, located in Peshawbestown, Michigan. In 2010, Professor Fletcher was elected to the American Law Institute.
The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community sells tobacco at The Pines Convenience Center, a gas station and convenience store in Baraga, Michigan. Photo from Facebook
Upper Peninsula Breaking News Exclusive: U.P. marijuana conspiracy that sold hundreds of pounds of pot busted with 10-count indictment against 4 people, Feds say
(Marquette, MI) – Four Upper Peninsula residents are charged with conspiring to run a marijuana distribution ring that allegedly dealt hundreds of pounds of pot in four U.P. counties after a federal judge on Tuesday ordered a 10-count indictment unsealed, Upper Peninsula Breaking News has learned.
Alleged U.P. federal pot conspiracy suspect Spencer Troy Ward of Bruce Crossing, MI. The 10-count, 18-page federal conspiracy indictment names Spencer Troy Ward, 55, of Bruce Crossing; Sharon Marie Peltola, 54, of Bruce Crossing; Robert Harley Stapleton, 43, of Iron River, Craig Robert Asikainen, 36, of Negaunee.
The indictment seeks forfeiture proceedings against the suspects to force them to turn over all property and proceeds from the alleged marijuana conspiracy. As part of two “forfeiture allegations” the government is seeking a money judgement of at least $448,000 from the defendants that “the United States estimates is gross proceeds from the conspiracy charge.
Charged in the 18-page federal conspiracy indictment are Spencer Troy Ward, 55, of Bruce Crossing; Sharon Marie Peltola, 54, of Bruce Crossing; Robert Harley Stapleton, 43, of Iron River, Craig Robert Asikainen, 36, of Negaunee.
The forfeiture demand includes three parcels of land Ward owns at 14747 N. Paynesville Road in Bruce Crossing; at 3954 U.S. Highway 2 West in Iron River Township; and at 4748 Rosemont St. in Watersmeet Township. The government is seeking any other proceeds of the alleged marijuana ring that may have been omitted on reporting forms by the defendants.
The suspects appeared yesterday (Tues, May 17, 2016) before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Timothy P. Greeley in Marquette on a superseding indictment. A federal grand jury returned the sealed superseding indictment on May 10 and it was unsealed Tuesday after the suspects appeared in court.
The original indictment, filed April 12, only named Ward. The charges first surfaced against Ward on March 29 in a “sealed criminal complaint” that was unsealed two days later when he made his first appearance in federal court. Out on bond, Ward did not have to make another appearance this week, but the other three were in court Tuesday.
The indictment alleges the ring distributed hundreds of pounds of marijuana between Oct. 2014 and Feb. 18, 2016. Ward is accused of distributing 100 or more marijuana plants plus over 220 pounds (100 kilos) of cultivated marijuana. Peltola, Stapleton and Asikainen are all charged with each distributing 50 or more marijuana plants plus over 110 pounds (50 kilos) of cultivated pot.
The most serious charge against the four is conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess marijuana plants and cultivated marijuana. The suspects “knowingly and intentionally combined, conspired, confederated, and agreed with each other and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury,” the indictment charges. The operation distributed pot in Marquette, Gogebic, Ontonagon and Iron counties, according to the grand jury indictment.
Peltola, Asikainen and Stapleton are all charged with one felony count of distribution of marijuana.
Peltola, Asikainen and Stapleton each face one felony charge of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Ward is charged with three felony counts of possession with intent to distribute marijuana and three felony counts of manufacturing 100 or more marijuana plants. All those charges involve incidents ‘on or about Feb. 18, 2016’ in four U.P. counties.
Count two: Peltola is accused of distributing marijuana on or about Dec. 10, 2015 in Gogebic County
Count three: Asikainen is charged with distributing marijuana on or about Feb. 12, 2016 in Marquette County
Count four: Stapleton is accused of distributing marijuana on or about Feb. 17, 2016 in Iron County
Count five: Ward and Peltola are charged with possessing pot with intent to distribute in Gogebic County
Count six: Ward and Stapleton are accused of possessing marijuana with plans to distribute in Iron County
Count seven: Ward and Asikainen are accused of possessing pot with intent to distribute in Marquette County
Counts eight, nine and 10: Ward allegedly manufactured over 100 pot plants in Ontonagon County
An initial pretrial conference for Asikainen and Peltola, Stapleton was set for June 14 before Magistrate Greeley; and a tentative jury trial jury trial was set for Sept. 6 before federal Judge Robert Holmes Bell. Further court dates for Ward are being rescheduled and have not yet been set.
Asst. federal public defender Beth LaCosse appeared on behalf of the three defendants Tuesday for first their appearance and arraignment during which Magistrate Greeley defendants advised the trio of the charges, possible penalties and their rights. All defendants stood mute and not guilty pleas were entered by Magistrate Greeley. LaCosse will continue as Asikainen’s attorney, while Peltola and Stapleton will be appointed attorneys. Ward is represented by Marquette attorney Timothy C. Quinnell.
All the suspect were released on personal recognizance bonds with conditions.
Exclusive info on major federal sting in Upper Peninsula
Watch our exclusive report on ABC 10 – below are links to our exclusive documents:
Read transcripts of some of the secret government recordings of allegedly crook commercial fisherman operating on Lake Superior and nearby.
The hubris is shocking and amazing – no respect for Great Lakes fishery.
A federal sting on tribal land – undercover business set up in L’Anse – on KBIC rez.
Many native and non native suspects are under investigation after a series of raids in an ongoing investigation into the illegal trafficking of millions of pounds of illegal lake trout, walleye, sturgeon and more.
(L’Anse, MICHIGAN) – A two–year federal undercover operation into illegal fishing on Lake Superior has resulted in a series of recent raids, involving three northern Michigan fish markets and their fishing operations, the (WBUP/WBKP TV) ABC 10/cw 5 News Special Investigations Unit has learned.
ABC 10 has exclusively obtained federal search warrants and criminal complaints recently filed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service LED.
Scroll down to read search warrants and the other federal documents
ABC 10 has learned that the Fish and Wildlife Service set up a bogus fishing company on tribal land in Baraga County that was used to buy fish from those under investigation.
The targets included members of numerous tribes in Wisconsin and Michigan – including the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, the Red Cliff Band of Chippewa Indians and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.
The investigation also includes non–natives.
That sting involved creating the bogus Upper Peninsula North Fish Company on U.S.–41 in L’Anse – in a building with a history of being a fish buying business – and located on the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community reservation.
The investigation involves millions of pounds of illegally caught fish on the Great Lakes including Lake Huron, Lake Superior, and Lake Michigan. The fish include sturgeon, Lake Trout and Walleye.
It’s unclear if KBIC officials knew the fishing operation was a front to nab those illegally selling.
The fishing operations raided over the past two weeks and included in these criminal complaints are:
Peterson’s Fish Market in Hancock plus two 50–foot fishing vessels owned by the Petersons – the Three Suns and the Charleen.
The Beaver Island Fresh Fish Market in Beaver Island whose owner – George “Skip” Duhamel – died this past July during the probe, according to federal search warrants.
Agents also raided the John Cross Fish Market in downstate Charlevoix – owned and operated by John Cross and his son, John “Jack” Cross III.
Meanwhile, U.S. Fish and wildlife service agents raided an international fish distributing company doing business under several names in the Sturgeon Bay, WI area.
Agents say businesses run by Dan Schwarz include Great Lakes Gold (GLG), Dan’s Fish, Sturgeon Bay Cold Storage (SBCS) and has a sister company Seafood International (SI) in Estonia
All four entities maintain a relationship with each other, functioning as different aspects of a seafood buying and exporting business, federal agents stated in their warrants.
A statement from the office of U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Miles, Jr. in Grand Rapids, Michigan that was read over the phone to (WBUP/WBKP TV 5/10) ABC 10 CW 5 office:
No recording was allowed of the statement, and it was dictated by a member of the federal prosecutor’s media staff.
“On Nov. 5, 2014 , U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service agents executed search warrants at various locations in northern Michigan and Northeastern Wisconsin (that are or were holders of) holding wholesaler records of fish taken from lakes Michigan and Superior,” the statement reads “The searches are pursuant to an investigation into potential violations of the Lacey Act.”
U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Miles, Jr. – the chief federal prosecutor for the Western District of Michigan including the Upper Peninsula – and “representatives of the Justice Department Environment and Natural Resources Division are communicating with state, tribal and fed. law enforcement representatives and look forward to working with them as partners in maintaining and safeguarding a healthy fishery.”
“Given the ongoing nature of the investigation, no further comment will be offered at this time,” the official statement said.
The Lacey Act is “federal conservation law that prohibits interstate trade in wildlife – such as fish – that have been taken, possessed, and transported or sold in violation of a federal, state or tribal law,” the statement said.
The Lacey Act “prohibits making false statements or records regarding fish and wildlife that are to be shipped in interstate commerce.,” the statement concluded.
These businesses hold wholesaler records of fish taken from Lakes Michigan and Superior and the investigation involves “potential violations of the Lacey Act.”
The justice department “is communicating with state, tribal and federal law enforcement representatives and look forward to working with them as partners in maintaining and safeguarding a healthy fishery,” the statement reads.
“The Lacey Act is a federal conservation law that prohibits interstate trade in wildlife such as fish that have been taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of a federal, state or tribal law,” the statement continues.
“The Lacey Act prohibits making false statements or records regarding fish and wildlife that are to be shipped in interstate commerce.”
ABC 10 has learned the investigation focuses on the illegal trafficking of nearly all edible species of fish from the Great Lakes – where Lake trout populations have been dangerously low due to over–harvest and the invasion of sea lampreys that prey upon those lake trout.
The feds have spent millions trying to increase Lake Trout numbers including lamprey removal, and strict trout harvest quotas.
In the documents, federal officials said the investigation demonstrates the illegal commercialization of lake trout and other fish species from Lake Superior and nearby Great Lakes.
The “extensive undercover operation” investigated the illegal trafficking and false reporting of fish harvested from Lake Superior, northern Lake Michigan and western Lake Huron.
Keywords:
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Police tonight are seeking clues in the disappearance of 33-year-old Kenneth “Ryan” Clark of Hancock, MI – who simply vanished on Friday, January 13, 2017 from near the Lakeview Drive area in Franklin Township (Houghton County).
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Even though the nickname of a Detroit drug baron and his wife were brought up several times during the sentencings, one federal official pleaded with U.P. Breaking News not to use the name because “lives are at stake” and suggested a temporary pseudonym be used in news coverage.
LaCosse argue that in federal sentencing guidelines there have long been “powder and crack cocaine disparities” in sentencing – that the judge noted was important because crack is much more addictive and powerful – the cooked base of powdered cocaine.
However, Public Defender LaCosse asked the judge to consider an even lower departure because future sentencing commission edicts are expected to give judges even more desecration, but the retiring judge appeared uninterested in reading the tea leaves.
Prosecutor Lochner said Belcher was “only being held responsible for the drugs he was involved with” and the bottom line is Belcher was “hired to come to the U.P. to sell cocaine Houghton.”
However, LaCosse said Ruth grew up in a life surrounded by criminal “recidivism.” She asked Ruth be given credit for time served as he spent two months in the Houghton County Jail before “the (federal) government took over the case.”
“Her home was a staging point for sales,” Judge Edgar said. “She played a pivotal role making sure the money got down” to Mr and Mrs. Drug Kingpin.
Under an agreement with federal prosecutors, Hatch, Belcher pleaded guilty to count one – felony conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine base.
The trio were ordered to submit to DNA testing and cannot possess firearms, drugs or alcohol, testing and treatment for substance abuse and compete the cognitive behavioral treatment program.
Elizabeth A. LaCosse
Federal Judge R. Allan Edgar
Seneca versus the state of Michigan: Tax hungry Michigan settles tobacco agreements with 10 of Michigan’s 12 Native American tribes – but two Upper Peninsula tribes says its government creep into tribal business and KBIC tells Michigan to back off 
Reacting to the threat of possible criminal charges and claiming its being coerced by the state, the tribe recently filed a 20-count, 60-page federal tribal rights lawsuit against four state officials in charge of enforcing and collecting taxes for cigarette sales and more.
The suit names sev
The tribe says it will loose millions in revenue. In fact, its no secret that non-native smokers – who are paying high Michigan taxes on cigarettes sold on non-tribal lands – sometimes make special trips to KBIC casinos or to the Pines Convenience Center and Smoke Shop, the tribal convenience store on U.S.-41 in Baraga. The tribe also sells cigarettes at the Rez Stop, a gas station convenience store in L’Anse.
The original indictment, filed April 12, only named Ward. The charges first surfaced against Ward on March 29 in a “sealed criminal complaint” that was unsealed two days later when he made his first appearance in federal court. Out on bond, Ward did not have to make another appearance this week, but the other three were in court Tuesday.
The most serious charge against the four is conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess marijuana plants and cultivated marijuana. The suspects “knowingly and intentionally combined, conspired, confederated, and agreed with each other and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury,” the indictment charges. The operation distributed pot in Marquette, Gogebic, Ontonagon and Iron counties, according to the grand jury indictment.
An initial pretrial conference for Asikainen and Peltola, Stapleton was set for June 14 before Magistrate Greeley; and a tentative jury trial jury trial was set for Sept. 6 before federal Judge Robert Holmes Bell. Further court dates for Ward are being rescheduled and have not yet been set.
Upper Peninsula Breaking News by Greg Peterson 
