Erica Zunkel, associate director of the Federal Criminal Justice Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School, argued that Mayfield — who was not on the ATF’s radar until the sting —- was unfairly targeted by an informant out to make a quick buck.

“He had Leslie in his crosshairs,” Zunkel said. “Leslie wasn’t the one looking for a score — Jeffrey Potts was.”

A staple of the ATF playbook since the mid-1990s, the phony stash house sting uses the promise of a big score to target who are supposed to be dangerous criminals. In reality, the stash houses — as well as the drugs, cash and armed guards purportedly inside — were dreamed up by agents.

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