Former Deputy U.S. Marshal Pleads Guilty To Yuba City Armed Robbery Of Marijuana Dealers
Two robbery crew members sentenced to prison
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - One defendant pleaded guilty today and two are sentenced for a plot that brought three Florida men to Yuba City where they robbed marijuana traffickers at gunpoint, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge John J. Martin announced.
Clorenzo Griffin, 38, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit a robbery. As part of this plea agreement, he admitted that he planned, financed, and participated in the robbery of marijuana from drug dealers. As also stated in his plea agreement, Griffin is a deputy U.S. Marshal from Florida.
Griffin’s co-conspirators had earlier entered guilty pleas in the case and have now been sentenced. Last week, United States District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller sentenced Andre Jamison, 40, of Miami, Florida, to seven years and three months in prison and, today, Judge Mueller sentenced crew member Rodney Rackley, 24, of Miami, Florida, to six years in prison. In sentencing Jamison and Rackley, Judge Mueller noted that the brandishing of firearms in connection with the robbery was extremely serious criminal conduct.
According to court documents, on October 11, 2014, a California Highway (CHP) officer in Sutter County attempted to stop a speeding Jeep Patriot. The three defendants eventually abandoned the vehicle in a parking lot on Starr Drive and fled on foot. The defendants were subsequently taken into custody with the assistance of the Sutter County Sheriff’s deputies. At the time of his arrest, Griffin possessed a loaded .40-caliber firearm. Court documents further indicate that before fleeing from the CHP, Griffin, Rackley and Jamison wearing police ballistic vests, had brandished firearms in order to rob three individuals of approximately 24 pounds of marijuana. The robbery took place in the parking lot of a hotel off State Route 99 in Yuba City.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the California Highway Patrol, Sutter County Sheriff’s Office, Yuba City Police Department, and the Sutter County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Jason Hitt is prosecuting the case.
Griffin’s sentencing date is set for March 9, 2016. The plea agreement contemplates a sentence range of 10 to 12 years in prison. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court at the hearing.
