Detroit Man Found Guilty of Murder

Marcus Lamont Freeman, 31, of Detroit, was found guilty by a federal jury in Detroit, Michigan today on one count of an Indictment charging him with conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade announced today.

The jury deliberated for more than seven hours before returning the verdict, concluding a trial that began on October 5, 2010, before United States District Judge Victoria A. Roberts.

U.S. Attorney McQuade was joined in the announcement by Andrew G. Arena, Special Agent In Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The jury found that Freeman was among three shooters who murdered Leonard Jerrard Day on Kilbourne Street in the city of Detroit on December 20, 2005. The government alleged that Freeman acted as a hitman hired by Roy Christopher West, 35, of Akron, Ohio, and that West wanted Day murdered as retaliation for Day's theft of $100,000 in cash and $250,000 worth of jewelry and other items from West.

October 25, 2010 is the scheduled date for the trial of co-defendants, Roy West; his brother Alseddrick Dewunn West, 39, of Akron, Ohio; Michael Eldren Bracey, 41, of Detroit, Michigan; and Alvino Dwight Cornelius, 34, of Detroit, Michigan. The trial for co-defendant Christopher Brandon Scott, who was indicted as a co-defendant in June of 2010, has not yet been scheduled.

Marcus Freeman faces a penalty of life imprisonment, and a fine of no more than $250,000.

United States Attorney McQuade thanked the Detroit office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Detroit Police Department, the Greater Akron Area HIDTA Initiative, which is a task force led by the Akron offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Agency for their efforts that lead to this successful prosecution.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth A. Stafford and Michael C. Leibson.