The manager of a Sunnyvale apartment complex has been charged with more than two dozen felonies after authorities discovered a cache of guns and $100,000 worth of drugs, officials said.
Brett Maxwell, 51, was arrested last week following searches of his apartment and a storage unit, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors allege he ran a “thriving” drug operation distributing methamphetamine and heroin.
District Attorney Jeff Rosen condemned the activity, saying, “We will never accept turning our neighborhoods into gun and drug bazaars.” He credited the coordinated effort between local and federal law enforcement for shutting down the operation.
On November 13, the Santa Clara County Gun Violence Task Force, the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety, the San Jose Police Department, the County Sheriff’s Office, and federal agents executed warrants at an apartment complex near Fair Oaks Park, adjacent to an elementary school and city playground.
Authorities reported that Maxwell’s apartment contained an arsenal of guns, drugs, and cash. His storage unit, several miles away, held additional firearms, explosives, and narcotics. Some of the guns discovered were unserialized “ghost guns”, which are privately made firearms without serial numbers.
Sunnyvale Public Safety Chief Dan Pastor praised the collaboration, stating it is “essential to keeping our neighborhoods safe.”
Maxwell was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday and faces prison time if convicted.
