Complex sentence: Struggling for many years with a heroin addiction, Hawes became the target of a federal undercover operation in 1958, the government seeking to use Hawes as an informant against heroin dealers in Los Angeles-confident he would cooperate rather than risk a successful career.
Split into simpler sentences: Struggling for many years with a heroin addiction, Hawes became the target of a federal undercover operation in 1958. The government sought to use Hawes as an informant against heroin dealers in Los Angeles, confident that he would cooperate rather than risk a successful career.