On Oct. 6, 2026, Samuel A. Griffith, 35, of Ashville, was sentenced after pleading guilty in April to methamphetamine and fentanyl distribution and possession, cocaine possession and illegally having a gun as a convicted felon.
U.S. District Judge Michael Watson sentenced Griffith to 22½ years in prison.
This story first published on Dec. 10, 2025.
ATF finds 18 guns, kilos of drugs in Far West Side hotel room
A Pickaway County man is in custody after federal prosecutors secured an indictment accusing him of dealing drugs out of a Far West Side hotel room where 18 guns were found.
A federal grand jury indicted Samuel Griffith, 35, on Dec. 4, accusing him of selling fentanyl from a room at the Red Roof Inn, located at 5001 Renner Road. He faces six charges in U.S. District Court Southern District of Ohio, in Columbus.
If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.
Information gathered from investigative sources, court records say, led the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to become suspicious of Griffith, who detectives believed was selling multiple types of drugs out of a hotel room.
In an Oct. 30 undercover drug sale, Griffith sold nearly 51 grams of fentanyl to an undercover ATF agent, court records say. Griffith also agreed to sell the undercover agent two handguns for $850 during the same conversation.
According to an affidavit, the undercover agent saw at least four guns on a TV stand in the hotel room and Griffith showed the agent another bag with four additional guns in it.
Investigators executed a search warrant on the hotel room and found large amounts of cocaine and fentanyl, described as kilogram amounts, in court records. Detectives also found 18 different firearms.
A grand jury indicted Griffith on charges of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, as well as drug trafficking charges. If convicted, Griffith could face up to life in prison. Griffith is currently being held in custody pending future hearings in his case.
New Albany-based Red Roof Inn has been named as a defendant in dozens of lawsuits filed in federal court in Columbus, accusing the hotel chain of ignoring warning signs and indicators of sex trafficking.
More than 1,000 women from all 50 states are represented in the lawsuits, which are being allowed to proceed in Columbus.
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com or on Bluesky at @bethanybruner.dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ashville man sentenced for dealing fentanyl, meth from Columbus hotel
