Flint man pleads guilty to incident in Sanilac County

(SANILAC COUNTY) – A Flint man is headed to prison after he attempted to steal 220 pounds of marijuana from a Sanilac County home in 2017.

30-year old Justin Cooper, was sentenced to 17 years Thursday, after pleading guilty last August. According to court records, Cooper and co-conspirators tried to break into a building on the property to steal weed and sell it.

However, those attempts failed according to police, so Cooper and the others planned to rob the people who lived at the home to steal the weed.

Court records show Cooper and the others put on gloves and covered their faces, with some of them armed with guns when they kicked in the front door of the home.

Once inside, some of the co-conspirators fired shots, hitting a resident in the leg. One of the residents fired back, hitting and killing two of the intruders.

Cooper was sentenced to 17 years on multiple charges including conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana.

Cooper will also have four years of supervised release when he gets out of prison.

Two co-conspirators, Paul Drinkwine and John Williams, have pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced in February.