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Indianapolis drug kingpin Richard Grundy sentenced to life in prison

Posted at 11:17 AM, Dec 12, 2019
and last updated 2019-12-12 12:00:32-05

INDIANAPOLIS—Convicted Indianapolis drug kingpin Richard Grundy III has been sentenced to life in prison just four months after a federal jury found him guilty on all counts.

Grundy, who was alleged to have ordered at least seven murders and overseen a drug-trafficking ring that moved thousands of pounds of marijuana from Arizona to Indiana, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine, distribution of methamphetamine and conspiracy to launder money back in August, following a lengthy trial.

Four other people were also convicted at the time.

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According to the U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler in Indianapolis, Grundy headed a drug trafficking operation that distributed more than 400 pounds of methamphetamine, as well as large amounts of cocaine, marijuana and heroin in Indianapolis between August 2016 and November 2017.

"Mr. Grundy was convicted of leading a criminal enterprise. He was the kingpin," Minkler said. "But he was much bigger than just a kingpin."

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Grundy and the four co-defendants first went on trial July 8 in Indianapolis. But just two days later, a mistrial was declared over a violation of a court order involving personal juror information. After the mistrial, the decision was made to move the retrial to Evansville, 180 miles away.

In 2015 he was facing multiple charges, including four counts of conspiracy to commit murder, but nine of those charges were eventually dropped and Grundy pleaded guilty to one count of dealing in marijuana. He was sentenced to probation.

You can watch U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler's press conference about Grundy's sentencing below.