Important thing about that big federal “gang” investigation that was supposedly in the works for six months: Several of the 15 suspects rounded up Wednesday morning had recently been turned loose by the state of North Carolina.

Not pending state charges mind you, there are plenty more of those. We are just talking about existing sentences for felony convictions which released them from custody — or never imprisoned them at all.

Let’s start with Marco Wigfall. Wigfall, 23, has felony convictions dating back to 2003. Of particular interest is a robbery with a dangerous weapon conviction in September 2005 which carried a sentence of up to 65 months in prison. However, Wigfall was paroled on January 3rd after serving a little over three years and was to remain on parole through September, according to state records.

Two weeks after his release CMPD arrested Wigfall on a felony cocaine charge. He was bonded out. Two weeks after that he was arrested again by CMPD and charged with three more felonies, including running a crack house. He stayed in the MeckCo Jail until February 22nd — last Sunday — on those charges. Yet within 36 hours of release Wigfall was in federal custody, part of the showy round-up of gang-members in West Charlotte.

Next, Tavarus Sturdivant, 27, with felony convictions dating to 2000. In October 2008 Sturdivant received a 36 month suspended sentence for a felony cocaine trafficking charge. In other words, he was on probation when the feds swooped in on Wednesday.

But wait, Sturdivant was also on probation back on January 29th — one month ago — when CMPD arrested him and charged him with four felonies, all involving trafficking heroin and cocaine. Yet he was bonded out.

Then there is Daryl “Darryl” Gibbs. Gibbs, 32, has felony convictions dating back to 1996. On January 7th he was sentenced to 36 months probation for a felony conviction on cocaine possession charge stemming from an August 2006 arrest. The arrest by CMPD initially included felony charges for AWDWISI and burglary, which were evidently dropped in exchange for a plea. While awaiting trial on those charges Gibbs was arrested twice more by CMPD in 2008, racking up another felony charge.

But the real mystery is that two weeks after his January probation sentence Gibbs is arrested again on felony cocaine charges. And at the start of this month, another felony cocaine arrest — all while on probation. Yet Gibbs is somehow walking around for the feds to nab on Wednesday.

Don’t pretend to know about the motivation behind these decisions, but the reality is clear — these three supposed dangerous gang members absolutely could have been in prison on existing state convictions. The rest of those arrested are not as explicitly jammed up — but they certainly could have been were their prosecution on previous charges a priority. Were I to speculate, it sure looks like CMPD and the feds manufactured a carefully marketed, headline-grabbing “gang” bust in order to make the case that additional “resources” are needed to combat this public safety issue while at the same time carefully side-stepping any implicit criticism of local prosecutors, judges, or the state corrections status quo.

This means that, in reality, the only thing that seems in short supply in Charlotte’s law enforcement circles is transparency, courage, and guts. Remember that the next time up they tac up and start issuing press releases.

Bonus Guffaw: The Uptown paper — Jeebus. You can only roll with a hed like Arrests demonstrate federal, local resolve to stifle gangs if you willfully ignore the backstory of this raid.