LANSING, Mich. — A Muskegon area man has been acquitted by a federal jury on charges from a 2018 raid in Muskegon Heights.
Sidney Maurice Scott Jr. was acquitted by the jury on April 22 after a two-day trial and two days of deliberation in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan in Lansing.
In 2018, after a nearby undercover drug purchase, police raided a Muskegon Heights apartment. Inside, they found drugs, drug paraphernalia, and a loaded gun. Police also found personal items that belonged to Scott, who had previously lived in there. However, he moved out in 2017 and left some of his belongings behind.
Scott was then charged with possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He faced a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison. Scott had no prior criminal history.
“The fact is, more than one person has access to that apartment,” said Scott’s criminal defense attorney Heath Lynch of Springstead Bartish Borgula & Lynch PLLC. “It was circumstantial based on his belonging – clothing – being present in the apartment. There was not enough evidence to pin these heavy crimes on my client.”
