Derrick “Bam” Samuels is pictured with a $100 bill. Samuels was sentenced to 20 years in prison following multiple federal drug convictions for his involvement in distributing heroin in the Gwinn area from 2008 until the spring of 2017. Chief Judge Robert J. Jonker of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan presided. (Photo courtesy of the Department of Justice)

MARQUETTE — Derrick “Bam” Samuels has been sentenced to 20 years in prison by Chief Judge Robert J. Jonker of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.

The sentencing follows multiple federal drug convictions, according to a recent press release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan.

Samuels was indicted by a federal grand jury and denied all charges against him, but went to trial in federal court in February with the jury convicting him on all counts.

The charges stem from Samuels’ involvement in heroin distribution in the Gwinn area from 2008 to 2017, the release states.

Because Samuels had two prior felony drug convictions, he was determined to be a “career” offender, which led to greater penalties in the case, officials noted.

Samuels had been investigated by the Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team, or UPSET, which found he obtained heroin in the Chicago area and then distributed it from his Gwinn-area residence, using “a number of associates,” according to the release.

A number of Samuels’ associates testified against him in court, all of whom noted they suffered an injury that was treated in part with an opioid painkiller, “which triggered an addiction to opioids and an eventual switch to herion. And their addiction to heroin led each of the witnesses to Samuels,” according to the press release.

Furthermore, the UPSET investigation showed Samuels did not work outside his home, but “made enough money to take photographs of himself burning a $100 bill,” the release states.

During the sentencing hearing, government officials shared facts and figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding herion.

Of 63,632 people who died of drug overdoses in the United States in 2016, heroin overdoses accounted for 15,500 of these deaths. To contextualize the figures, the government’s attorney noted there were 58,220 in-country U.S. Military deaths during the entire Vietnam War, the release states.

Michigan State Police Detective Lt. Tim Sholander said in the release that heroin is a particularly dangerous drug that will destroy people, families and community. Sholander hopes with Samuels’ incarceration that the people he sold heroin to can recover and move forward with a healthier lifestyle, the release states.

Interdiction of heroin trafficking remains one of the U.S. Department of Justice’s highest priorities, officials said. The case was prosecuted and tried by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maarten Vermaat and Paul D. Lochner.