Accused heroin supplier loses attempt to have case thrown out

A Michigan man referred to as “big homie” in wiretaps and identified by the FBI as the main source for a ring that shipped heroin from the Caribbean to Michigan and then to a North Side gang has lost his attempt to have his case thrown out.

U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer on Friday ruled against Victor Burnett of Oak Park, Mich., who according to the FBI was the supplier for a gang operating out of a house on Watson Boulevard in Perry North.

Burnett and his lawyer had tried to suppress an affidavit for a search of his house and motorcycle written by a Pittsburgh FBI agent, Karen Springmeyer, and approved by a federal magistrate judge in Michigan.

He said Agent Springmeyer didn’t have enough evidence to establish probable cause for the search, but Judge Fischer said she did and recounted numerous tapped phone conversations in which Burnett is identified as the heroin source for Vanier Murraine.

Murraine, a convicted drug dealer from St. Thomas living near Detroit, has pleaded guilty in federal court in Pittsburgh to his role in distributing heroin shipped from the Virgin Islands to Michigan and then to a local distribution network led by Clinton Robinson of Sheraden. Robinson is serving eight years in federal prison.

Burnett, Murraine and Robinson were among 13 people indicted here in 2016 following an investigation by an FBI task force.

The case began in January 2015 when Pittsburgh police received complaints about drug dealing on Watson Boulevard. Surveillance identified Robinson and others in his gang who were dealing heroin from a house on that street.

The FBI launched a wiretap investigation that revealed Robinson’s sources as Murraine and Burnett, who also had distributors in Michigan, Ohio and Georgia.

In the Pittsburgh network, the FBI said Burnett supplied

Murraine, who supplied Robinson.

Agent Springmeyer said surveillance in Michigan had shown Burnett would often ride his motorcycle to Murraine’s house, carry a backpack inside and leave with the pack in a saddlebag on the motorcycle.

Agent Springmeyer said these short meetings were typical of drug transactions, and the judge agreed.

In tapes of conversations between Murraine and Robinson, Murraine also described Burnett as “his man” and “big homie” and vouched for the quality of his heroin.

In one call, Murraine indicated that Burnett was vacationing in Puerto Rico and that Murraine was holding his drugs and money at his house while Burnett was away.

“Under the totality of the circumstances,” Judge Fischer ruled, “the information contained in the affidavit established probable cause for issuance of the search warrants.”

Burnett had also asked to be released from custody pending trial, saying he has completed various courses while in jail and that his mother can watch over him.

But Judge Fischer noted that he’s accused of supplying heroin on a large scale, he had an AK-47 and heroin in his house when the FBI searched it, and he bought ammunition for Murraine, who as a felon couldn’t have ammunition.

The judge agreed with the U.S. attorney’s office that he should remain locked up as a danger to the community.

She also denied his motion to transfer the case to Michigan, saying the investigation started in Pittsburgh and was investigated by the Pittsburgh FBI.

Any Michigan witnesses, she said, can easily travel to Pittsburgh to testify.

Murraine was set to be sentenced next week but it has been postponed until April.