A man facing drug trafficking and gun charges by the Racine County District Attorney’s Office has a lengthy criminal history that includes robbery, murder and heroin dealing in the 1970s and 1990, according to stories by the Journal Times.
Samuel Griffin, 65, of Racine, faces fresh charges of possession of intent to deliver heroin and cocaine, keeper of a drug house for sales, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Griffin was arrested in his home on Monday after members of the Racine County Metro Drug Unit, Drug Task Force officer from the Milwaukee DEA office and deputies from the Racine County Sheriff’s Department raided his home in the 4200 block of Durand Avenue. While executing a search warrant, investigators found 50 grams of heroin, a ½ ounce of cocaine, a .357 handgun, body armor, cash, a digital scale and packaging material. The street value of the heroin is estimated at $6,5000, according to a press release by the Racine County District Attorney’s Office.
Sources close to the investigation said a newspaper clipping of Griffin’s past criminal history was found in his house at the time of the raid.
Griffin, who was living in Racine at the time in the 1970s, was found to be mentally ill or incompetent on three cases, including a robbery charge in 1970, a murder charge in 1972, and heroin dealing. Instead of serving a prison sentence, he was hospitalized.
Released in 1988 because he wasn’t “insane or dangerous,” Griffin told Racine County Judge Stephen Simanek that he would never come back to Racine. But he was charged in 1990 with dealing cocaine in Winnabego County. Sentenced to spend the next 28 years in prison, Griffin’s sentence was reduced to 15 years in prison because he cooperated with a murder investigation, according to a story by the Journal Times.
Court records show that Griffin has lived in Racine since 2006.
He is expected to make an initial appearance in court on Thursday regarding the most recent charges and is currently in custody in the Racine County Jail.
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http://racinecountyeye.com/newsdesk/three-men-arrested-in-drug-house-raid/