United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a Kansas City, Kansas, man convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance was sentenced on August 15, 2022, by U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier.
Michael Luntere Grayson, age 22, was sentenced to five years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Grayson was indicted for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance by a federal grand jury in December of 2021. He pled guilty on May 24, 2022.
Beginning on or about August of 2021 and continuing until on or about December 2021, Grayson reached an agreement to distribute fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance, in the District of South Dakota.
During his involvement, Grayson obtained pills containing fentanyl from a co-conspirator and distributed them to drug customers in South Dakota. On October 13, 2021, law enforcement conducted a targeted interdiction on a vehicle Grayson was driving. Grayson initially pulled the vehicle over, but when a trooper approached on foot he drove away and attempted to elude law enforcement. Law enforcement eventually got the vehicle stopped and searched it. They found approximately 278 grams of pills containing fentanyl, 228.6 grams of cocaine, 33 grams of crack cocaine, and 92 oxycodone pills. Grayson and his co-conspirators were planning to sell the drugs found in the vehicle. Grayson’s involvement in the conspiracy ended with his arrest on October 13, 2021.
This case was investigated by the South Dakota Highway Patrol and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Paige Petersen prosecuted the case.
Grayson was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.