Southfield Resident Sentenced to More Than Ten Years In Federal Prison for Drug Trafficking

DETROIT – U.S. District Court Judge Stephen J. Murphy sentenced Leron Liggins, 34, formerly of Southfield to 10 ½ years in federal prison on Tuesday, March 22, 2022, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced today.

Ison was joined in the announcement by Acting Special Agent in Charge Kent R. Kleinschmidt, Drug Enforcement Administration, Detroit Field Division and Special Agent in Charge Paul D. Vanderplow, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Detroit Field Division.

In October 2021, a jury found Liggins guilty of one count of participating in a drug conspiracy and one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin. The evidence at trial established that from 2015 to 2018, Liggins distributed heroin by concealing it in suitcases flown across the United States to be sold in Michigan. Liggins also paid others to travel across the country with drugs and cash concealed in their checked luggage so that those drugs could be sold in several other states.

“This defendant engaged in a conspiracy to distribute illicit drugs that endangered our neighborhoods and ruined lives,” said U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison. “I hope that a significant sentence like the one handed down in this case sends the clear message that our office and our law enforcement partners are committed to disrupting drug trafficking and prosecuting those who seek to profit by sending dangerous drugs into our communities.”

“This sentencing should serve as a notice to would-be drug traffickers that DEA and our law enforcement partners will employ every resource to bring you to justice,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Kent R. Kleinschmidt. “Mr. Liggins has a demonstrated pattern of trading the suffering of others for his own personal gain and that pattern has come to an end.”

This case was the result of a joint investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Andrea Hutting and Tim McDonald.