Southgate man sentenced to 20 years for fatal drug doses

A Southgate man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for distributing drugs that killed two people in 2021, federal officials announced Wednesday.

Scott Sams, 54, received the sentence in U.S. District Court after pleading guilty to distributing methamphetamine, officials said.

"We are hopeful this sentencing brings a sense of justice to the victims’ families, whose loved ones were recklessly endangered by the defendant,” Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Detroit Division, said in a statement. "We are grateful to our law enforcement partners for their support throughout this investigation."

Sams was named in a criminal complaint filed in December 2021.

Authorities said police suspected Sams of being a methamphetamine distributor in the Downriver area. Detectives said Sams allegedly would often convince customers to join him at parties and take doses of methamphetamine with Alka-Seltzer tablets, which supposedly increased their high.

Investigators said he met one of his victims in May 2021 at an Allen Park motel room. He allegedly gave her a fatal dose of methamphetamine and fled the hotel room as she died.

Despite the woman's death, Sams allegedly delivered a second fatal dose of methamphetamine to a man in Farmington Hills weeks after, investigators said.

Police later worked with the FBI to investigate their deaths, which later led to his arrest.

In a sentencing memorandum filed this month, James Gerometta, Sams' attorney and an assistant federal defender, said his client has struggled with drug addiction for the last five years, which contributed to his involvement in the deaths.

"During the dark days of Mr. Sams’ addiction, he distributed methamphetamine to two individuals who died from overdoses," Gerometta wrote in the memo. "He has taken responsibility for his actions."

He added: "This is a terrible case. While Mr. Sams was lost in the haze of methamphetamine addiction and did not intend to harm anyone, his repeated behavior caused the death of two people with families who loved them and will mourn their loss. His behavior has destroyed the lives of the two victims and his own."

cramirez@detroitnews.com

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