DETROIT – A convicted drug dealer was given a rare second chance to turn his life around, and federal officials said he blew it in spectacular fashion.
Myles Guinn is now facing the possibility of spending a major chunk of his life behind bars. He was given a second chance through the CeaseFire Program, which is designed to rehabilitate gang members and drug dealers.
It's been successful in big cities, including Detroit, but it didn't help Guinn, officials said. He was arrested on suspicion of selling crack one day after the program.
Guinn was given probation and put into the CeaseFire Program after being busted for selling drugs. The program aims to help people leave gang life and become productive members of society.
Guinn signed in, and the next day he was pulled over by officers who found 44 rocks of crack cocaine, police said.
"The government could even perhaps overlook the fact that Mr. Guinn was dealing drugs while on parole for dealing drugs," prosecutors said in a court filing. "The government draws the line, however, when it affirmatively takes steps toward assisting a defendant in leading a life free of crime (via Project CeaseFire), and in response, the defendant doesn't just disregard the gesture, he eviscerates it with 44 individual bags of crack in his underwear."
"He didn't make good use of that chance," Detroit resident Damion Hardman said. "Maybe they need to put him in a more restrictive program."
Residents in the neighborhood where Guinn was arrested are concerned, but they don't want to see him do a lengthy prison term.
"He is still a person," resident Franklin Thomas said. "He's still a young man. He needs another chance."
But the assistant U.S. attorney on the case wants to send a message.
"Mr. Guinn is a danger to the community, and he shows no willingness or ability to cease his criminal activities," attorney A. Tare Wigod said. "Under these circumstances, the government requests that the court sentence Mr. Guinn to a term of incarceration."
The judge listened to both sides and sentenced Guinn to six months in prison.