DETROIT (WWJ) -- After being charged in connection with the deaths of two Detroit men, a pair of drug traffickers from out-of-state pleaded guilty Friday to both murders and to distributing cocaine.
Mariano Garcia, 53, of Brownsville, Texas and Michael Griffin, 40, of Birmingham, Alabama each pleaded guilty to being involved in a drug trafficking conspiracy and to murdering two other members of the distribution ring, according to a press release from U.S. District Attorney Dawn N. Ison.
In their confessions, the men admitted to engaging in a long-term scheme in which Garcia supplied cocaine from Texas to distributors -- like Griffin -- in Birmingham and Detroit.
According to officials, Garcia pushed Griffin to travel from Alabama to Detroit to collect on debts from one of the Detroit traffickers. Garcia also confessed to encouraging the use of violence to get the money.
Griffin and an unnamed associate arrived in Detroit in December 2016, at which time they tied up, shot and killed the delinquent distributor and a second man in his home, using pillows to muffle the gunshots.
Following the murders, Garcia and Griffin continued running narcotics, later admitting to trafficking between 50 and 150 kilograms of cocaine.
Both men were officially convicted of:
-- Conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine and heroin
-- Interstate travel with the intent to kill or injure resulting in death
-- Interstate travel for illegal activity where death resulted
"These two men murdered two people in cold blood in Detroit to further their cocaine trafficking conspiracy," U.S. Attorney Ison stated. "We will not stop fighting until this kind of senseless violence is ended."
Garcia and Griffin are scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 21. Under the terms of their plea agreement, Griffin faces a sentence of 30 years in prison, and Garcia could spend up to 25 years behind bars.
The case was investigated by special agents from the FBI, DEA and the Detroit Police Department's Homicide Task Force.
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