Detroit business owner linked to historic fentanyl seizure charged

A Detroit gas station owner has been charged after Livonia police raided and recovered what they described as the largest fentanyl stash in Michigan, federal officials announced Thursday.

Bary Willis, 55, was indicted on multiple felony charges, including possessing more than 400 grams of fentanyl with the intent to distribute and possessing firearms during a drug trafficking crime, U.S. District Court records show.

If convicted, the Clinton Township man faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years' incarceration, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.

“This case represents the largest law enforcement seizure of fentanyl in the state of Michigan to date," U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said in the release. "We are incredibly proud of our law enforcement partners who conducted this investigation and recovered these deadly substances before they could harm members of our community."

Livonia police searched Willis' home, an alleged Detroit stash house on Littlefield Street and the Citgo gas station and car wash he owned on Livernois Avenue on March 28, authorities said.

Police found hundreds of thousands of dollars in suspected drug proceeds, more than 2.6 kilograms of cocaine as well as more than 40 kilograms of fentanyl in powder and pills at the searched locations, according to the release and a criminal complaint filed March 30.

“This amount of fentanyl has the potential to provide nearly two deadly doses to every man, woman and child living in the state of Michigan," Orville Greene, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said in the release Thursday. "We will continue to work with our partners to pursue anyone pushing poisons into our communities and bring them to justice.”

Officers also found two handguns at the stash house, one at his home and another at the gas station, as well as more than $100,000 in cash from Willis’ Clinton Township residence.

"This major seizure of fentanyl has saved lives," said Livonia Police Chief Thomas Goralski in the release. "The great partnerships we have with law enforcement at the federal, state and local levels in southeast Michigan, enable us to make these types of investigations successful."

At a hearing last week, Willis was ordered to remain in detention pending a trial, court records show.

An attorney listed as representing him did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.