A judge set him free, then 6 people died. Who's to blame?

In the world of undercover informants, Kenyel Brown was no altar boy.

He was a career felon who did drugs, sold drugs, assaulted people and committed gun crimes — a seasoned informant with street cred.

The feds used him. So did Detroit police. But somewhere along the way, authorities say, Brown snapped, and presumably no one saw it coming.

Brown, 38, died Friday after carrying out what police have described as a bloody crime spree that killed six people over six weeks. It ended with him shooting himself in the head in a suburban backyard while running from police.

Brown's case has triggered controversy and finger-pointing because he allegedly carried out these crimes weeks after a federal judge chose to release him — despite his multiple probation violations — rather than lock him up.

Brown was released on Oct. 29.

That same day, he was hired as an informant by the Detroit Police Department, though Chief James Craig has said that he never knew of Brown's multiple probation violations, which are publicly available and easy to find on the federal court's so-called Pacer system.

Craig also said that had he known of these violations, he never would have used Brown as an informant

According to federal court records reviewed by the Free Press, here is what happened on Oct. 29, the day a judge released Brown from federal custody, setting into motion a catastrophic series of events that involve multiple actors:

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On Oct. 29, at 11:44 a.m., U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman held what was supposed to be a sentencing hearing for Brown, who had repeatedly violated probation stemming from a 2014 gun arrest. Brown had failed drug tests, got arrested for drunken driving and missed mandatory meetings, among other things.

But instead of locking Brown up for his repeated violations, Friedman released him at the request of a federal law enforcement agency that, for reasons not disclosed, wanted Brown freed.

Friedman never mentioned that request in court, though he obliged, telling the defendant that while he was aware that he's "had a hard time following the law" he was going to give him a break.

There were no objections from the prosecution.

"I know you have an alcohol problem," Friedman told Brown. "And I know some other things are going on in your life right now which I appreciate, and it's the right thing to do and as a result of that, I'm going to give you a break."

The judge continued:

"I'm going to discharge you from probation, not give you any other time, because I think, hopefully, you can stay out of trouble. And I think you're doing some of the right things, too. And I appreciate that. And I think you're entitled to a break for that."

Then came a warning.

"So stay out of trouble," Friedman urged Brown. "I don't want to see you again. Okay?"

Brown responded: "Thank you, judge."

That same day, the Detroit police signed Brown on as an informant, he would work for a Detroit-DEA task force.

Craig said that Brown only conducted one operation and that nothing came of it. According to Craig, Brown was paid $150 for providing information to law enforcement about drug and gang activity in southwest Detroit, but that the information he provided never panned out.

Craig said that the Detroit police removed Brown as an informant on Feb. 3 after learning that Brown was a person of interest in a double homicide the day before in River Rouge.

By then, three people had already died, allegedly at Brown's hands, police said. Three more would die after his stint as an informant. Police said the killings were not random and involved drugs and money.

"Someone should have alerted us that there were problems," Craig has previously said. "Because, clearly, we would not have wanted to work with an individual who ... violated conditions of his release."

'They had to know'

Craig's claim doesn't make sense for Keith Corbett, a former federal prosecutor who dealt with informants as chief of the organized crime and racketeering unit for the U.S. Attorneys office for 20 years.

Corbett said he's skeptical that police didn't know about Brown's repeated probation violations.

"When you're dealing with informants, you're not dealing with choir boys," Corbett said. "They had to know that he was involved in a lot of criminal activity in order to have any reason to expect that he would be a decent informant."

And Brown's parole violations should not have been difficult to spot, Corbett said.

"For law enforcement to claim that they weren't aware of what kind of guy he was? ... They have to know as much as they can. What's his record? What does he know? ... In nine of 10 cases, your informants are the same guy. Everybody knew he was a bad buy."

According to court records, Brown has a lengthy criminal history with convictions dating back to the 1990s. They include:

1997, carrying concealed weapon, felony assault with a dangerous weapon.

1999, fleeing-police officer, attempting to use a Taser.

2000, fleeing police officer.

2001 felony conviction for fleeing and eluding 2nd degree, fourth habitual offender, causing death.

Corbett, who is now a criminal defense attorney for the Barone Defense Firm in Birmingham, said that when he first heard about Brown's alleged killing spree, he felt that someone failed to properly monitor him.

"I thought somebody screwed up," Corbett said, adding that informants are supposed to be monitored by the agencies that use them. "It would seem to me that that wasn't being done in this case."

Corbett explained that when law enforcement wants to use an ex-convict as an informant, they sometimes seek to have them discharged from supervised release so that they can use them in criminal situations to bust others. For example, when someone's on probation, or supervised release, they are not allowed to have any contact with other known felons, or engage in any criminal activity.

But when a judge removes them from federal custody and ends the probation terms, the informant is free to work freely with law enforcement, and engage in activities with criminals that would otherwise be forbidden — such as undercover drug buys.

Corbett said that's what likely happened in Brown's case: law enforcement wanted to use him in ways that the terms of his probation didn't allow, so they "got him off the books."

"By discharging him from supervised release, it made it easier for him to be officially involved in that activity," Corbett said. But, he added: "I don't think anyone had a real expectation that he was going to go off the rails like this."

A criminal who got lots of breaks

During his criminal career, Brown got several breaks. He violated probation at least seven times, but still managed to get out. And he also escaped hefty sentences, in part with some help from the U.S. Supreme Court.

According to federal court records, Brown was charged in 2015 with being a felon in possession of a gun after being caught with a loaded pistol. It was his third gun offense. He faced a minimum 15-year prison sentence under a then-federal law that was designed to punish repeat violent offenders. But in 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court declared part of the law unconstitutional, a ruling that cut Brown's guidelines to 15-21 months.

That same year, Brown cut a deal, pleading guilty to felon in possession. Friedman sentenced him to 21 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release.

Brown would mess up, however, failing drug tests and removing his tether during supervised release. His supervised release was revoked, he got more time, but by July 2017, he was out again.

And the violations continued. Brown tested positive for cocaine, marijuana, missed drug treatment meetings.

All of this was supposed to land him back in prison, court records show. But the judge let him out at the request of a law enforcement agency, said a federal court spokesperson, who declined to elaborate.

"This is a horrible tragedy. We are going to do everything in our power to get to the bottom of this matter," U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider has said. "Kenyel Brown was a law enforcement informant for a period of time, and we have been — and currently are — working closely with our law enforcement partners to determine exactly what happened."

Schneider added: "It’s also our obligation to act as transparently as we can, in a responsible manner, by obtaining the facts. The families of the victims deserve nothing less."

Schneider also has contested claims that a law enforcement agency requested that a judge release Brown and keep him out of custody, saying: "I have seen no evidence of that."

According to court records and Craig, Brown also was used as an informant for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, though the agency declined comment.

Craig has said that it was the ATF that "handed off" Brown to the Detroit-DEA task force on Oct. 29, but never mentioned his repeated probation violations.

"It appears that when informant Brown was handed off to the (task force), there was no discussion about his history," Craig said, adding: "It's troubling, because now we have six victims ... it was clear that he had a significant drug problem and he spiraled out of control."

According to police, Brown's reign of terror started on Jan. 8, nine weeks after his release, when he allegedly claimed his first victim in River Rouge. Over the next six weeks, they said, five more people would die: two in River Rouge, two in Detroit and one Highland Park.

The bloodshed ended on Feb. 24, when Brown fired a single shot into his head.

Brown's destructive and criminal behavior was no secret to the courts. Nor were his repeated missteps.

As one federal prosecutor argued in a 2014 federal court filing, in which she urged a judge to keep Brown locked up following a probation violation: "He was given a second chance, and failed to take advantage of it."

The judge kept him locked up.

But Brown would mess up again, and get out again, despite the prosecutor's warnings: "His actions demonstrate that he is a danger to the public."

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com.