Local drug ring leader sentenced

Brazel Gardenhire, an Ann Arbor resident and one of two leaders
of the drug ring operating from 512 Packard St., just east of
Thompson Street, pleaded guilty last month to the delivery of
controlled substances and to being engaged in a continuing criminal
enterprise.

Circuit Court Judge Archie Brown sentenced Gardenhire Wednesday
to 40 years in prison, according to Chief Assistant Washtenaw
County Prosecutor Joe Burke. Gardenhire will be eligible for parole
after serving two and half years, which would be determined by the
Michigan Parole Board, Burke said.

Gardenhire was arrested in April, shortly after police began
investigating the death of a woman who overdosed on drugs in March.
The Ann Arbor Police Department had already received numerous
complaints about the house where Gardenhire lived, and he was
identified as the supplier to the woman, AAPD Detective William
Stanford said.

“An active investigation (against Gardenhire) was going on
at the time of her death,” he said. The house was raided and
shut down shortly afterward.

Gardenhire is currently being held in Washtenaw County Jail
awaiting transport to another facility. Neither Gardenhire nor his
attorney could be reached for comment.

At the time of Gardenhire’s arrest, police had issued
three drug-related arrest warrants. The police were also seeking
charges against individuals who were associated with the house.
Those included 21 charges of delivering cocaine, 13 charges of
conspiracy to deliver, as well as three charges of possession of
cocaine and the intent to deliver within 1,000 feet of a school
zone. The outcome of these charges has yet to be determined.

In 10 years, police have responded to 227 calls at the house for
assaults, burglaries, sexual assaults and a barricaded gunman,
according to the Associated Press.