Three Bricks and a Driver, A 13 year old case.

Matthew Levanduski is on trial June 2017 due to being the driver of an automobile carrying three kilos of cocaine. The story is he stopped at the Brighton Shell gas station April 2004, it is said, to get gas. He attempts to receive a wire transfer from Western Union; it is said, to pay for the gas. The Western Union often goes down there at the Shell Station and Mr. Levanduski becomes agitated not receiving his money, agitated enough to frighten the clerk. She calls the police. The police shortly show up. They find out that there are two passengers in car, man in front and woman in the back. The passenger in the front, Richard Rodriguez, has an outstanding warrant for arrest. Woman in the back had a handgun in her purse. The police searched the car and in the trunk found two bricks of cocaine under clothes and one on the left side of the trunk of car. There was a substantial amount of cutting agent as well. That makes the cocaine go farther. My estimate of the street value is a couple hundred thousand dollars. They also find a hand gun in the purse of the female in the back seat.

But the case is 13 years old. Why the delay? My guess is the case was turned over to the Feds and they never pursued it. I wasn’t able to find out.

Livingston County is charging the defendant with three counts: 1) possession with intent to deliver and distribute, 2) possession and 3 possession of a weapon.

The prosecution’s case was simple. Arresting police officers, the City of Detroit DEA, the clerk at the Brighton, Michigan Shell Gas Station were called to testify. Although it was funny the clerk had to be reminded of the police report to refresh her memory of the incident; she couldn’t identify the defendant in the court room. The Senior Forensic chemist was interviewed by phone to confirm that the bricks were indeed cocaine.

Mr. Levanduski gave a signed and dated short written statement to the City of Detroit DEA, stating he was aware of the cocaine and the gun.

For the defense’s case Matthew Levanduski testified in his own behalf. He’s a tall man, 6’ 5”, in his thirties. He had met Maggie at a party, where she presented the courier proposal. Mr. Levanduski testified that he drove the passengers for a fee, since they didn’t have a valid license. She was planning to pick up her brother-in-law in Chicago. Upon arrival at Chicago the brother-in-law doesn’t show up and they turn around. At some point he gets suspicious and discovers the cocaine in the trunk. Maggie comes up to him and points a gun at him. He understandably felt threatened, especially since he says they knew where he lived. They drove back whereupon they were arrested.

Mr. Levanduski under oath stated he had been interrogated at length by the City of Detroit DEA, not realizing he’d be under indictment, he gave his simple statement regarding his awareness of the presence of the cocaine and gun.  He didn’t include the threat he was under by the passengers. In other words he was an unwitting dupe to drug delivery. He hadn’t expected to be arrested by the Feds and it appears a case wasn’t made against him.

 I had several conversations with his uncle and father who were present at throughout the two day trial. He had his own business (lawn care? construction?) in Florida for some years after this incidence.

So initially I’m sympathetic to his situation.

However, the prosecutor pokes some holes into his story. First he didn’t have a valid driver’s license. It was suspended in March 2004, a month before his did the chauffer job. He did get a driver’s license from Ohio later even though he lived in Grand Rapids. We find out that he had $225 in his wallet at the time he says he was trying to get money through Western Union to pay for gas. Prosecutor speculated that he was anticipating being paid for his courier job and got agitated when it didn’t arrive. In addition Brighton is way out of your way, if you’re coming back from Chicago to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Why were they in Brighton, Michigan? In addition Mr. Levanduski had ample opportunity to alert the police that he was being essentially held against his will by the couple. However, he didn’t bother to tell them. And finally prosecution asked jury to compare the writing in the note book that was found in the car with the writing in the statement provided to the City of Detroit DEA; they matched in some elements.

The jury verdict surprised me. The prosecution provided no evidence of communication between him and the couple in the car or making drug deals whether text or phone. There was no finger printing or DNA of the bricks to match the defendant. Simply, the very large amount of the cocaine was presented as evidence of large scale dealing. That we can agree, but his connection to it is less clear. The jury convicted on possession to deliver and distribute the heavier charge and acquitted on the possession and gun charge. I thought possession would be the charge, since it seemed unclear he had intent to control and deliver the bricks.

In retrospect I’m guessing that it might have been the notebook hand writing that they matched with the signed confession.

This is where it gets uncomfortable. Typically in the court room there are few people in the gallery. I often am the only on-looker in the court room gallery. In this case two gentlemen attended the court proceedings and invariably they’ll ask who I am. Then a conversation starts and we end up talking through the trial in recess. This time I felt bad because I relayed my optimism of a possible acquittal to his father and uncle and the defense attorney for that matter. As already stated in contrast the jury chose the harshest charge to incriminate the defendant to my dismay.