GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The head of a mothballed Grand Rapids scrap metal company awaits trial on a felony drug charge and forfeiture proceedings against a Corvette and more than $37,000 seized during his arrest outside a southern Kent County gas station.
Charges against 43-year-old Jason Todd Emanouil come less than a year after his business, Enterprise Iron and Metal Inc., closed amid a torrent of legal trouble and debt.
Once a thriving venue for scrap metal and recycling, the family-run company at 850 Pannell Street NW went out of business last summer.
Creditors are trying to collect on millions of dollars in debt, including $2.5 million owed to JP Morgan Chase Bank. The judgement was entered in July, 2017. Other creditors include a financial services company in Pennsylvania, which is owed $1.1 million, according to records in Kent County Circuit Court.
Emanouil, who lives in Sparta, did not respond to requests for an interview. He is free on bond.
The criminal charges and forfeiture proceedings stem from an encounter between Emanouil and the Kent County Sheriff’s Department on March 31, court records show.
Deputy Brandon Marz began surveillance on a Chevrolet Corvette at the Citgo gas station on 76th Street SW near U.S. 131 “due to an increase in drug crimes in the area,’’ court records show. He observed people park next to the Corvette and then leave shortly thereafter.
Marz checked the Corvette’s license plate, which came back to another vehicle and was expired. The deputy approached the driver, later identified as Emanouil, who was also driving on a suspended driver’s license, court records show.
The deputy arrested Emanouil after observing a firearm sticking out of the car’s interior door panel. A second handgun was located between the driver seat and center console.
A search of Emanouil turned up $2,223. Another $35,000 was found within the vehicle’s dashboard, court records show.
Inside the trunk, deputies recovered 90 Hydrocodone pills, 38 Adderall pills and 21 amphetamine pills, court records show.
“Given the actions observed of Emanouil in the parking lot of the gas station, it appeared he was using the gas station to conduct illegal drug trades,’’ Kent County Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Boer wrote in the forfeiture complaint.
Emanouil was charged with possession with intent to deliver analogues, a seven-year felony, carrying a concealed weapon, a five-year felony and a misdemeanor charge of driving while license suspended.
The criminal case and the civil forfeiture case are pending in Kent County Circuit Court.
Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said the state’s asset forfeiture statute is designed to remove the profit from drug dealing.
“I think it’s a valuable tool for law enforcement,’’ Becker said. “It is a valuable thing to be able to take those assets out of circulation and take the tools away from that drug dealer.’’
Defense attorney Andrew Rodenhouse declined to comment on Emanouil’s case, other than to say the $37,223 seized from his client and the Corvette had nothing to do with drug dealing.
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