Minneapolis man sentenced on heroin charge

By RICHARD JENKINS

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Bessemer - A Minneapolis man charged with bringing heroin into the area was sentenced to prison in Gogebic County Circuit Court Tuesday.

Brandon Lee Bible, 36, was sentenced to at least 7 years, 11 months for possession of heroin with intent to deliver and at least 2 years for resisting and obstructing a police officer.

"You took it upon yourself to supply heroin to Gogebic County on not just one occasion, on not just two occasions, but (on) at least three occasions you travelled from Duluth to this county to supply not just a little heroin, but a lot of heroin," Pope said. "When you were caught doing this, you were less than cooperative with law enforcement. You refused to give them the items, you tried to swallow some items."

As a habitual offender, Bible's maximum sentences were extended to 30 years and 3 years for each of the charges respectively.

Under the Michigan Department of Correction's sentencing guidelines, the recommended minimum sentence in the case was between 38 and 95 months for the possession charge - meaning Pope's sentence was the maximum amount under the state's guidelines. Bible will serve his two sentences concurrently.

Bible was arrested at the welcome center on U.S. 2 in Ironwood Sept. 10, according to information presented in court.

He testified at his plea hearing in March he picked up heroin in Duluth and drove to the welcome center, where he was waiting to hear from the person he was delivering it to.

"Police pulled up on me as I was smoking some of (the heroin)," Bible said at that time.

He testified he put the foil he was using to smoke the heroin in his mouth and refused repeated commands to spit it out, the basis for his resisting and obstructing charge.

In court Tuesday, Bible said it was a bad time in his life and he saw an opportunity to make some money.

"It sounded like a good deal at the time," Bible said. He said it was a mistake and he was an idiot for acting on the plan.

Bible's attorney, Doug Muskett, argued the only reason Bible came to Gogebic County was the controlled buys the Gogebic Iron Area Narcotics Team conducted.

"There is no evidence that Mr. Bible - outside of these controlled buys - was doing any sort of delivery of any drugs to Gogebic County, or had anything to do with Gogebic County," Muskett said, while seeking a lesser sentence for his client. "This isn't a case where somebody was actively selling drugs and GIANT caught them."

Gogebic County Prosecutor Nick Jacobs argued Bible repeatedly brought drugs into the area to sell, and said he was caught with approximately 30 grams of heroin.

"That's about 300 hits of a devastating drug that this defendant was circulating in our community," Jacobs said, basing his calculation on the idea of the average user consuming one-tenth of a gram at a time.

Although he acknowledged Bible's "troubled life" and upbringing meant it was "no surprise" he abused opiates and alcohol daily, Pope said the drug abuse went hand-in-hand with Bible's criminal history - which included six prior felonies and various misdemeanors.

"You are a serious offender," Pope said.

A charge of tampering with evidence and a second case involving contraband in the Gogebic County Jail were dismissed Tuesday as part of Bible's plea agreement.

Bible received a jail credit of 232 days on each charge for time served in jail prior to his sentence.

Bible's case was primarily investigated by GIANT.