ATF used a brain-damaged man with a low IQ to set up gun & drug deals & then charge him.

Milwaukee, WI - ATF agents running an undercover storefront in Milwaukee used a brain-damaged man with a low IQ to set up gun and drug deals, paying him in cigarettes, merchandise and money, according to federal documents obtained by the Journal Sentinel.

For more than six months, federal agents relied on Chauncey Wright to promote "Fearless Distributing" by handing out fliers as he rode his bike around town recommending the store to friends, family and strangers, according to federal prosecutors and family members.

Wright, unaware that the store was an undercover operation being run by agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, also stocked shelves with shoes, clothing, drug paraphernalia and auto parts, according to his family.

Once authorities shut down the operation, they charged the 28-year-old man with federal gun and drug counts.

"I have never heard of anything so ludicrous in my life," said Greg Thiele, who spent 30 years working for the Milwaukee Police Department including on undercover stings with federal agents, including those with the ATF. "Something is very wrong here."

Wright's IQ measures in the 50s, about half of a normal IQ, according to those familiar with him. Wright's score is classified as mildly or moderately disabled, depending on the IQ scale used.

At Wright's sentencing in June, prosecutors will recommend probation, based on his "mental functioning," according to his plea agreement on file with the court.

Wright has undergone a competency evaluation "due to his low IQ," according to a Feb. 14 email from then-Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis Schmitz to attorney Doug Bihler who represented James Warren, another defendant in the case.

Schmitz's email to Bihler indicates prosecutors believe Wright is a vulnerable person. Prosecutors threatened Warren with stiffer penalties for "taking advantage" of Wright, according to the email.

But as the situation unfolded, it was ATF agents who were taking advantage of Wright.

"That's just hugely inappropriate. It's no different than using a kid," said Jim Hoegemeier, executive director of the Arc-Wisconsin Disability Association. "They had to have known after working with him for more than a couple of hours."

"This is real exploitation," said Shirin Cabraal, managing attorney for Disability Rights Wisconsin. "It's morally outrageous."

The agents paid Wright with cigarettes, merchandise and $530 in cash for marketing and "generating business" from February to September of last year, according to a letter written by Assistant U.S. Attorney William Lipscomb and obtained by the Journal Sentinel from Warren, who remains incarcerated awaiting trial and could not be reached for comment. Lipscomb declined to comment.
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