Pubdate: Thu, 10 Mar 2016
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Copyright: 2016 The Sacramento Bee
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/0n4cG7L1
Website: http://www.sacbee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/376
Author: Denny Walsh
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

FORMER DEPUTY U.S. MARSHAL SENTENCED FOR YUBA CITY DRUG ROBBERY

24 Pounds of Marijuana Taken From Drug Dealers

He Was Given 10 Years Behind Bars for His Part in the Heist

They Were Out-Of-Towners, and That Was One Key to Their Undoing.

Three men from Florida - Clorenzo Griffin, then a deputy U.S. 
marshal, Andre Jamison and Rodney Rackley - robbed 24 pounds of 
marijuana from three drug dealers at gunpoint in a Yuba City motel 
parking lot Oct. 11, 2014.

Following the brazen daylight stickup, and with Griffin at the wheel, 
the three blew through a red light at a high rate of speed just 
around the corner from the California Highway Patrol's Yuba City 
office. With a CHP officer in pursuit, the robbers abandoned their 
rented Jeep Patriot, and Griffin unwittingly ran straight to a 
building housing the Sutter County Sheriff's Office.

A sheriff's deputy fired a warning shot at Griffin, who dropped his 
gun and was taken into custody by the CHP officer. The other two were 
quickly cornered behind a dumpster and arrested.

On Wednesday in Sacramento federal court, Griffin, who pleaded guilty 
in December to plotting an interstate robbery, was the last of the 
three to be sentenced to prison by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller.

She handed out a 10-year term behind bars for Griffin, who was off 
duty at the time of the robbery and has been in jail since his 
arrest. He was fired by the U.S. Marshals Service after he was 
arrested. He primarily worked escorting prisoners to and from court 
in Miami and Fort Lauderdale and guarding them in the courtroom.

Griffin, 38, who grew up in Broward County and lived in Fort 
Lauderdale, was a standout defensive back for the University of 
Minnesota football team.

His fellow thieves, both of Miami, pleaded guilty to their respective 
parts in the heist and were sentenced in December. Jamison, 40, got 
seven years and three months in prison, and Rackley, 24, got six years.

An intermediary, who splits his time between Florida and Sacramento 
and who is acquainted with Jamison, set up the meeting, telling the 
drug dealers the contingent from Florida were buyers.

Once they had been relieved of their marijuana, the drug dealers 
drove around for about 10 minutes looking for the culprits but were 
pulled over by police, who were treated to the story of the robbery.

The drug dealers recounted that the robbers approached the Honda 
Accord they were sitting in with guns drawn and wearing gear with 
"POLICE" displayed on it. One of the robbers asked if anyone in the 
car was on probation, then the robbers pulled one of the drug dealers 
out of the car and asked for his identification. The robbers grabbed 
three bags containing the marijuana out of the car, put them in the 
Jeep and took off.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hitt argued that Griffin was the moving 
force behind the daring caper and sought a 12-year sentence for him.

"As a member of law enforcement, he abused the public trust placed in 
sworn peace officers," Hitt wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed 
last week. He wrote that Griffin "planned, financed, and 
participated" in the robbery.

"Indeed, without Mr. Griffin, the crime would never have occurred," 
Hitt said in the memorandum. "Neither of his co-defendants had the 
resources or vision to plan the conspiracy in this case." The scheme 
"required a cross-county flight, obtaining hotel rooms, procuring 
firearms, ballistic vests, and a rental car, as well as the moxie to 
set up and rob marijuana traffickers."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom