Supplier to major SE Wisconsin heroin ring gets 12 years
A judge told Arthur G. Smith Jr. Friday that he found it remarkable that Smith, a man with no prior criminal record, a solid job history and marketable skills in the printing industry, would be sitting before him to be sentenced for supplying a major heroin ring.
“You’re kind of a conundrum,” Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Michael Hanrahan said. “The only explanation is you were selfish and greedy.”
Smith, 40, of Melrose Park, Illinois, was among two dozen people charged in June 2018 after an investigation and raids by federal, state and local authorities.
Authorities say that in just the five weeks the men were subject to a wiretap in 2018, Smith, 40, supplied 8 or 9 kilograms of heroin to his cousin, Chauncey Griffin, among the three biggest heroin distributors in southeastern Wisconsin.
They suspect Smith had been providing heroin, sometimes cut with fentanyl, for at least a year before that. Smith had a custom-made hydraulic press to form the heroin into 100-gram and kilogram blocks, some with a Gucci symbol pressed into the bricks.
Griffin’s network of 20 dealers peddled the drug to hundreds of customers, nearly 90 of whom suffered overdoses, some fatal, District Attorney John Chisolm said.
Six days into a trial in December, Smith decided to plead guilty to conspiracy to deliver more than 50 grams of heroin.
Assistant District Attorney Megan Newport recommended Smith do 171⁄2years in prison. She said Griffin’s ring made millions of dollars, “profiting off addiction, pain and suffering.”
Smith’s attorney, Glenn Givens, called Newport’s recommendation “way over the top.” He said Smith has three children he’s always supported, could get another good job easily and has no interest in ever again getting involved in crime.
Griffin, 36, pleaded guilty in September to a pair of drug conspiracy counts and three counts of having a firearm as a felon. His sentencing is set for April 9.
Givens reminded Hanrahan that it was from Griffin that authorities recovered dozens of guns and that Smith had no guns or ammunition.
Hanrahan said he believes Smith probably won’t get back in the drug business, but that “the message to the community at large must be significant.”
He sentenced Smith to 12 years, followed by 10 years of extended supervision, but made him eligible for a substance abuse program in prison after nine years. If Smith is accepted and completes the intensive 12-week program, he could have his remaining prison time converted to extended supervision.
Smith will get a credit against the 12 years for 592 days he’s been in jail since his arrest.