A federal informant staged drug deals with friends while investigators watched but disguised the identities of the friends to frame innocent people and get them sent to prison.

Informant Jerrell Bray gave drugs to friends and arranged for them to make sales to undercover federal officers. Then, Bray testified in court or gave sworn statements identifying others as the parties in the deals, said Bruce Teitelbaum, a federal prosecutor investigating how a controversial drug case spun out of control.

By using his friends or "stand-ins," Bray was able to set up four people, including a woman who refused to date him.

Teitelbaum described for the first time how Bray manipulated the truth. The prosecutor was specially appointed by the Justice Department to investigate Bray's claim that he lied to send innocent people to prison.

Teitelbaum declined to say whether law enforcement officers who recruited, supervised and worked with Bray knew about the scheme.

U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver sentenced Bray, 34, to 15 years in prison on charges of perjury and depriving others of their civil rights. If Bray cooperates fully, his sentence can be cut to 11 years.

"This crime goes to the very integrity of the criminal justice process," Oliver said. "If we don't have a justice system we can believe in, then in our system, we really have nothing."

The federal sentence will run concurrently with a prison term a Cuyahoga County judge ordered Bray to serve for shooting a man in a drug-related robbery.

A federal grand jury has begun hearing testimony and is expected to meet in January to hear more, several sources said. The grand jury will investigate allegations of obstruction of justice, perjury and weapons charges by Bray "and others," according to court records.

Bray, of Cleveland, will play a key role in the grand jury's work. He is helping investigators determine how a major drug case in Mansfield, supervised by agent Lee Lucas, veered off course.

Prosecutors and juries have tossed out cases against six of 26 people charged in the Mansfield investigation.

"This whole thing is a travesty," said U.S. Attorney Greg White.

"We have to do everything we can to correct it."

Lucas, a veteran of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, has worked hundreds of major cases around the country. Lucas has declined to comment.

Bray's attorney, John McCaffrey, told Judge Oliver that Bray's cooperation has been significant and will continue.

McCaffrey also lauded White, saying the prosecutor moved quickly and decisively after Bray's initial statements.

He urged Oliver to "look at all of the conduct in this case, and not just Mr. Bray's."

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