The 1989 gangland revenge slaying of Sherman Christian was tangentially tied to the so-called Kronk boxing drug case of the 1990s. Christian was gunned down in a highway drive-by on the orders of Olee Robinson, who was loosely connected to the Kronk narcotics conspiracy indictment which landed in May 1994. Robinson was part of a network of drug pushers working with one-time Kronk boxers, Darrell Chambers and William (Stanley the Steamer) Longstreet, two of three Kronk-trained fighters convicted in a cocaine conspiracy almost 23 years ago. Chambers, a 56-year old one-time middleweight contender trained by the legendary Emanuel Steward at his iconic westside Detroit gym, has been behind bars since the winter of 1995 after being found guilty in a drug conspiracy case. He’s serving a life prison sentence as a result of the conviction, despite it being a non-violent offense.The building that served as the former site of the Kronk Gym and Kronk Recreational Center burned to the ground last week in a suspicious fire. Home to 41 world champion prize fighters, the Kronk closed its doors in 2006. Steward passed away in 2012. The most well-known boxer to come out of the Kronk is Detroit’s favorite son, five-time world champion Tommy (The Hitman) Hearns, who was a childhood friend of Chambers on the city’s rugged eastside. Per sources, both Hearns and Steward were investigated for possible connections to laundering drug proceeds for Kronk fighters and former Kronk fighters, but never charged with any crimes. Chambers and Longstreet were busted in 1994 after their drug operation was infiltrated by a soon-to-revealed tainted DEA informant. Also indicted in the case was high-profile Kronk boxer Donald (The Lone Star Cobra) Curry, winner of two world championship belts in the welterweight and super welterweight divisions. He was acquitted at their 1995 trial. Longstreet testified against Curry and Chambers in court and only did three years in prison. Olee Robinson wasn’t a part of the Kronk case – he was indicted separately on drug and murder charges in 1993 and found guilty at a trial in December of that year. Robinson fronted his wholesale cocaine business through a luxury car-leasing company in suburban Southfield, Michigan. In April 1989, Robinson and his girlfriend Michelle West were robbed of $25,000 cash at gunpoint leaving Robinson’s car-leasing office. They soon found out that the culprit was the boyfriend of West’s best friend, Cynthia Horry, another area drug world figure named Sherman Christian. On June 23, 1989, Christian was killed in drive-by shooting on the Southfield Freeway. The month previous, West helped Horry take out a million-dollar life insurance policy on Christian through Sun Life of Canada bank. Although Horry was the original beneficiary on the policy, West and Robinson forged a transfer of duty to West as trustee for Christian’s children and eventually recovered a portion of the money (splitting the payout with Christian’s ex-wife). According to trial testimony and police records, Robinson, today 65 and serving life in prison, farmed out the murder contract on Christian’s head to his right hand man Edward (Tricky) Osborne, who in turn hired triggermen Michael (Little Mike) Abernathy and Lopez (Big Pez) Moore for the job. Osborne became a government witness. Another Robinson lieutenant testified that when Robinson saw Christian’s slaying being reported on the television news, he immediately turned to others and said “What did I tell you I was going to do to that motherfucker.”
