United States of America v. Elias Deshawnte Miller and Ralph Knox, II

Grand Rapids, MI - The United States of America charged Elias Deshawnte Miller and Ralph Knox, II with conspiracy to possess and distribute fentanyl and heroin.Elias Deshawnte Mills and Ralph Knox II were each sentenced in federal court to 60 months in prison and four years supervised release for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and a detectible amount of heroin.



This case involved two seizures of drugs. One seizure followed a traffic stop of a car carrying defendant Mills travelling from Detroit, where he obtained the fentanyl and other drugs, to Battle Creek. Battle Creek Police actually recovered the fentanyl from a woman’s body cavity after a trained canine notified law enforcement of the possibility of drugs by alerting on the driver’s seat where the woman was sitting. After a complete investigation, the woman was referred to state rather than federal authorities for consideration of charges. The other seizure followed a search of Knox’s home in Battle Creek where the defendants stored drugs. The fentanyl found in Knox’s home was particularly troubling because police recovered it from an open kitchen drawer in a house where four minor children resided. Both defendant Mills and defendant Knox had prior Calhoun County drug convictions.



The investigation was conducted by the Battle Creek Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Defendants were sentenced to 60 months inprison.