Press Release
Contact:
PHILLIP J. GREEN
ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY
PHONE: (616) 456-2406
GRAND RAPIDS DRUG DEALER SENTENCED TO TWENTY YEARS
TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2009 - GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan – Roy Marsh Applewhite, age 54, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was sentenced to twenty years’ imprisonment following his conviction on drug-trafficking and firearms offenses, U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davis announced today. Applewhite was convicted on October 30, 2008, following a three-day jury trial, of all four counts of the indictment: (1) maintaining a drug house, (2) possession of heroin with intent to distribute it, (3) being a felon in possession of two firearms, and (4) possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking. U.S. District Judge Janet T. Neff presided over the sentencing.
On December 18, 2007, the Grand Rapids Police Department, Vice Unit, executed a search warrant on Applewhite’s house after receiving a tip that he was distributing heroin. Upon entry, officers found Applewhite huddled in a bathroom with three heroin addicts. It was later learned that Applewhite tried to flush his stash of heroin down the toilet and that he had hidden a loaded 9mm Smith & Wesson semiautomatic pistol in the bathroom vent. In the kitchen, the officers found two digital scales and a snorting straw. Close by, they found a loaded Arms Company .22 caliber seven-shot revolver. They found used needles throughout the house.
Two of the heroin addicts found with Applewhite were homeless teenagers, ages 18 and 19 at the time, who had become homeless as a result of their heroin addiction. Several witnesses testified at trial that Applewhite allowed the teenagers to stay at his house to avoid the prospect of losing them to other dealers. Applewhite forced the homeless teenagers to use his computer to go on the Internet to convince people to send them money, which they then turned over to him to pay their mounting drug debt.
The defendant had incurred no fewer than six prior drug offenses, as well as at least two prior firearms offenses, including the following:
- i. Possession with Intent to Deliver Marijuana and Carrying a Concealed Weapon in Auto, May 7, 1981, 17th Judicial Circuit, Kent County, Michigan;
- ii. Possession of Marijuana and Second Felony Offender, March 17, 1982, 17th Judicial Circuit, Kent County, Michigan;
- iii. Carrying Dangerous Weapon in Auto, March 9, 1988, 30th Circuit Court, Ingham County, Michigan;
- iv. Illegal possession of heroin and Trafficking in a Controlled Substance (Cocaine), September 21, 1990, Jefferson Circuit Court, Louisville, Kentucky;
- v. Possession with Intent to Deliver Cocaine over 50 Grams, June 4, 1996, 17th Judicial Circuit, Kent County, Michigan; and
- vi. Possession with Intent to Deliver Cocaine less than 50 Grams and Possession with Intent to Deliver Heroin less than 50 Grams, October 18, 2005, 17th Judicial Circuit, Kent County, Michigan.
U.S. Attorney Davis commended the joint efforts of the Grand Rapids Police Department
and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in this investigation.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip J. Green.
END
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