Cartel fears in a Detroit murder investigation, Warren mayor's spending under scrutiny, pot legalization vote

FRIDAY NEWS HIT - Investigators are taking a closer look at a double murder case in Detroit from 10 years ago - alleging a detective working the case withheld vital information fearing a Mexican cartel may harm his family in Sept. of 2012. By doing so, it may have led to an innocent man going to prison for the murders.

"It's almost something out of a TV show," said Steve Dolunt, retired DPD assistant chief. "There may be people who don't believe this kind of thing happens in Detroit - but it does."

Detroit Police Detective Moises Jimenez was assigned the case. Dolunt says Jimenez was assigned many homicides on the southwest side.

"He's a good detective, he's a hard worker, workaholic," Dolunt said. "He's bilingual, and a lot of those shootings down in southwest Detroit, he was your guy."

His case led to a conviction and Alexandre Ansari would spend 6 and 1/2 years in prison for two murders he didn't commit.

In March of 2019 a conviction integrity unit took a second look. Ansari was cleared of the charges by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.

The claim was the detective in charge, Jimenez, purposely left out information about the real killer with ties to a Mexican cartel. It's alleged he was fearful the cartel would go after family members in Mexico.

"In this particular case, it appears as though he had to make a moral decision - do I let my family die, do I withhold this information - what do I do?"

Jimenez was investigated by the attorney general's office who reviewed the allegations and decided not to press charges. However, other investigators may be taking a second look at the situation.

"I'm blown away," Dolunt said. "The guy was a hard charging detective and I feel bad for all parties."

Last year an attorney for Ansari filed a federal lawsuit against Jimenez and the city of Detroit. That case that remains under investigation by the prosecutor's office.      

FOX 2 reached out to the Detroit Police Department and Wayne County Prosector's Office for comment. Both declined to say anything at this time.

In the federal lawsuit they can place a cartel member in the location 20 minutes before the murders and 20 minutes after. 

Closing arguments in Whitmer kidnapping plot trial 

Jurors will hear closing arguments Friday in the trial of four men accused of a brazen conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a case built with informants, undercover agents, secret recordings and two people who pleaded guilty and cooperated.

Only one defendant, Daniel Harris, chose to testify in his own defense. But his denial of any crime Thursday was met by an aggressive cross-examination in which prosecutors used his own words to show his contempt for Whitmer and even suggestions about how to kill her.

Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr. and Brandon Caserta declined to testify, and defense attorneys called only a few witnesses. The four deny any scheme to get Whitmer at her vacation home in fall 2020, though they were livid with government as well as restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The men were arrested in October 2020 amid talk of raising $4,000 for an explosive that could blow up a bridge and stymie police after a kidnapping, according to trial evidence. Fox twice traveled to northern Michigan to scout the area.

Detroit man restarts dog rescue for vets with PTSD

Walter Hart Jr. is looking to connect local vets with a new pet. "I want to give back to the city of Detroit, my talents again with the help of people I can do it, I can be successful," he said. Walter ran "Canine Companions Limited," on Detroit’s west side off Tyler Street. For about a decade his team trained therapy dogs for senior citizens, law enforcement, and veterans. But they eventually had to close the nonprofit.

"The finance wasn’t there and the help wasn’t there," he said. "We were definitely struggling, trying to raise money to get it going there." Still, Walter trained dogs all over the country for a living and through his nonprofit, always, had a soft spot for veterans – his father fought in Vietnam and his son in the Army.  

"I always used to train dogs for veterans but it wasn’t as serious as it has been in four, five years," he said. "When he came out, he was disabled with PTSD." Now, he’s heading into retirement and wants to spend that time re-igniting the dream of opening back up in Detroit, off Tyler Street, a property they still own.  

"My dream is to see veterans come in and out of there with certificates in training and training dogs for other veterans with PTSD," he said. Veterans helping veterans - and he is even planning to use rescue dogs right from Detroit – as therapy dogs, with the right training. Right now, the first step is getting the property back into shape. "Volunteers to help us clean, (the) next moves would be raising money for the kennels and then go from there," he said.  

Warren Mayor ordered to stop diverting campaign funds from budget 

On Thursday, a circuit court judge granted the Warren City Council’s request for a preliminary injunction against Warren Mayor Jim Fouts to stop him from diverting funds illegally from the city budget.

According to court records, Fouts is accused of using $675,000 from Downtown Development Authority funds to pay for television ads and promotions. This spending was unapproved.

The budget approved by the City Council in May 2021 cut some of Fouts' budget requests, including $615,000 in the DDA for contractual services that was being used for a TV ad campaign; and reduced community promotions in the DDA budget from $75,000 to $10,000.

Fouts is accused of telling city finance staff and the DDA that the city was going to use "the Mayor’s budget" instead of the $292 million budget approved by City Council. City Council members said the Council began objecting to Four's use of the unapproved budget at its regular meetings beginning in July 2021.  

Groundbreaking on historic 150 Bagley 

Almost a hundred years old, Detroit's United Artists Building has spent nearly half of its time in the city's skyline as a symbol of blight and abandonment. But in 2023, it will reopen as a mixed-use housing building, along with a new name: The Residences @ 150 Bagley.

The $75 million project, overseen by the Detroit-based Bagley Development Group, will usher in 148 new apartments, of which 20% will be affordable housing. The remaking 80% will be priced at area median income. The project will also turn 10,000 square feet into productive retail and dining space along Bagley Street.

It's the latest effort by the city to rehab some of its most iconic buildings that had fallen into blight and disrepair over the decades. "My partners and I are honored to develop Residences @150 Bagley in such a vibrant, downtown community," said Emmett Moten, the Bagley Development Group’s managing partner.

The groundbreaking at 150 Bagley Thursday morning tracks along with other building projects in Detroit, including the Fort Shelby Hotel, Farwell and Capitol Park Buildings, the Michigan Central Station, and the Fisher Body 21 plant. 

What else we're watching

1. Michigan Woman Forward is accepting nominations for the 2022 inductees to the Michigan Woman's Hall of Fame. So far, 339 women have been inducted into its halls over 39 years. Learn more here miwf.org/herstory
2. Detroit says it is receiving the Social Bond of the Year award following implementation of its blight program that seeks to remove degradation from neighborhoods. The $175 million neighborhood improvement program has reclaimed or demolished over 2,000 homes.
3. The Department of Oakland County Parks and Recreation has reopened its golf courses Friday, another unofficial sign of spring - even if the temperatures don't agree.
4. The supply shortage is reportedly halting manufacturing at two Michigan car plants run by Ford and General Motors. The shortage are expected to impact production through next week.
5. The U.S. Census bureau plans to release personal information from the 1950 report, 72 years after it was conducted. As is policy with census filings, the demographic data remains secret and locked up for decades before it can be released.

Live on FOX 2

Daily Forecast

March may be out of the way, but there's still a bit of sour weather to push through before temperatures warm up. This weekend will be cloudy, cool, and breezy, with spits of rain Saturday night and Sunday morning. 

House poised to pass federal marijuana legalization, MORE Act — what you need to know

The U.S. House of Representatives is poised to pass legislation on Friday to legalize marijuana nationwide.

The bill, titled the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, would essentially remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act list and decriminalize it.

Marijuana is currently a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning that it is labeled as having a high potential for abuse and currently has no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, on par with heroin and LSD.

The final rule for the process to consider the MORE Act was approved by the House Rules Committee last Wednesday. This followed a nearly 500-page report on what the legislation would accomplish.

The Committee on the Judiciary wrote that the bill would decriminalize cannabis, provide for reinvestment in certain people and communities negatively impacted by the war on drugs, and provide for expungement of certain cannabis offenses.

The bill is likely to pass along party lines — with most democrats expected to approve it and most Republicans expected to oppose the bill. 

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