Brian Sawyers, Cocaine Base Distribution, California 2023

LOS ANGELES — A burger stand in South Los Angeles wasn’t just flipping patties — it was a front for crack cocaine sales, federal prosecutors say. Brian Sawyers, 57, was sentenced today to 15 years in federal prison after being convicted on two counts of distributing cocaine base, with one deal going down in the parking lot of his own restaurant, B.D. Burgers.

Sawyers sold over an ounce of crack cocaine on February 8, 2012, to a confidential informant working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The exchange happened at his South Los Angeles eatery. Just weeks later, on March 1, 2012, he met the same informant at the burger stand, then drove them both to his home, where he handed over approximately 2½ ounces more — another bust caught on federal radar.

U.S. District Judge Ronald S.W. Lew handed down the sentence, citing Sawyers’ criminal history as a driving factor. With three prior felony drug convictions — two of them federal — Sawyers triggered a mandatory minimum of 10 years. But prosecutors pushed for more, arguing his repeated flouting of drug laws made him a danger to the community.

“Crack cocaine remains a highly addictive drug that poses a danger to its users, and the trafficking of crack poses dangers to the community at large,” said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “Removing this defendant from the street for the next 15 years increases the safety of the law-abiding residents of South Los Angeles.”

ATF Special Agent in Charge Eric D. Harden didn’t mince words: “The defendant’s criminal history documents several violations of drug trafficking laws. The lengthy sentence handed down ensures Mr. Sawyers does not remain on the streets to sell drugs at the peril of his own community.”

The probe was a joint effort by the ATF’s Los Angeles Field Division, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anil J. Antony and Ann C. Kim handled the prosecution. With the sentence carried out, Sawyers begins a long stretch behind bars — a fall from grillman to federal inmate.