Advertisement
Antonio Bracy faces five felony charges stemming from alleged cocaine deals with a police informant on two separate occasions in April and May. Bracy faces a mandatory minimum sentence of three years in prison because of previous drug convictions on his record. He faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
Bracy’s attorney, Richard Kimlinger, made several arguments against the evidence of those two controlled buys. Citing audio and video tapes of the buys, Kimlinger said police “lost sight” of the informant and never observed a hand-to-hand transaction between the informant and Bracy on April 8. Kimlinger said there was no indication that Bracy said anything on the tapes and that the informant met with someone else during the buy.
According to Kimlinger, the informant handed over the cash for the drugs to Brett Dennis, 21, who is currently charged with burglary, theft, and cocaine sales in unrelated incidents. It wasn’t until later that the informant changed his story to police and said the transaction took place with Bracy, Kimlinger said.
During a controlled buy on May 6, Kimlinger said the informant met with Bracy and about four other people at an undisclosed residence. Although Bracy was later arrested and found to have buy money on him, one of the other people could have actually handed over the drugs, Kimlinger said. He said the cocaine had also been tampered with before police got their hands on it.
Assistant Winona County Attorney Nancy Bostrack did not argue the state’s side of the case any more than submitting police reports and video and audio tapes to the court. She said those would show “sufficient probable cause.”
Judge Jeff Thompson accepted Bostrack’s exhibits and took the case under advisement.
If the charges against Bracy hold up to Thompson’s scrutiny, Bracy could return for an arraignment.
Contact Kevin Behr at (507) 453-3524 or at kbehr@winonadailynews.com.
