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‘Career drug dealer’ sentenced to 20 years for heroin ring in the U.P.

Posted at 1:05 PM, Oct 11, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-11 14:56:04-04

MARQUETTE, Mich. – A man the U.S. Attorney refers to as a “career drug dealer,”  and, who took pictures of himself burning a $100 bill, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Derrick “Bam” Samuels was sentenced for multiple federal drug convictions for distributing heroin in the Gwinn, Michigan area from 2008 to 2017.  Samuels had two prior felony drug convictions which led to a longer sentence.

The investigation by the Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team showed the Samuels had gotten heroin from Chicago and then distributed it with others in the Upper Peninsula. The U.S. Attorney says that many of Samuels’ associates testified against him and told how they had become addicted to opioid painkillers, which led them to heroin and Samuels.

The investigation also showed that Samuels did not work, but had enough money to take photographs of himself burning a $100.