HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The man who sold heroin in Huntington last year connected to more than 20 overdoses was sentenced Monday afternoon to spend more than 18 years in prison by a federal judge.
Bruce Griggs, 22, of Akron, Ohio, was sentenced to 220 months (18 years and 4 months) after an earlier guilty plea to the crime of federal distribution of heroin.
On one of his four trips to Huntington last year, Griggs, also known as “Benz” or “Ben,” sold the drug at Marcum Terrace. That particular day, Aug. 15, the drug was mixed with carfentanil and fentayl, leading to the overdoses of 26 people.
Carfentail is 10,000 times stronger than morphine and is used as an elephant tranquilzer, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Carol Casto.
Griggs’ attorney urged U.S. District Judge Chuck Chambers to give his client a lighter sentence. He argued a harsher sentence would not change the drug epidemic problem in Huntington.