A man who reportedly told police “they are going to kill me” after being apprehended with nearly $1.2 million in cash and 2.5 pounds of cocaine was sentenced to more than ten years in prison on Thursday.
The cocaine seizure was noteworthy in and of itself, but the cash recovered from numerous locations, including a Mickey Mouse backpack, topped the local charts.
Antonio Cruz, 42, was charged with many offenses after being found in possession of drugs, cash, and a firearm. He pleaded guilty to two of them, including the supply of more than 1,000 grams of cocaine, which is a potential life sentence.
On Thursday, Kent County Circuit Court Judge Clay West sentenced Cruz to 13 to 30 years in prison for the narcotics charge, plus a required two-year sentence for a firearms offense.
“The amount of drugs found is enough to ruin lives,” West stated at the sentencing.
The cash seizure is regarded as the largest ever conducted by the Grand Rapids Police Department during a drug house search.
According to a police report, after Cruz was apprehended in September 2024, he told authorities, “They are going to shoot two shots in my head. They’re going to kill me.”
While riding with police, he said, “They are going to kill me; I’m dead, and they are going to kill my kids.”
His arrest in suburban Grand Rapids last year came after a lengthy investigation involving many agencies. The investigation began when an informant told police that a man later identified as Cruz “would make regular trips to Chicago to pick up cocaine to be sold in the Grand Rapids area,” according to a Grand Rapids police report obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
The Drug Enforcement Administration also investigated Cruz in 2023, according to records.
Between April and September 2024, an undercover officer made two controlled purchases of cocaine from Cruz; investigators also monitored his trips to Chicago, according to records.
On September 3, 2024, the investigation came to a head. Cruz was nabbed after a traffic stop on Burlingame Avenue and Burton Street SW.
According to a police report, he said to one of the passengers in Spanish, “Clean the house,” as he was removed from the vehicle.
“I believed there was something illegal at the residence, and he wanted it removed or destroyed before the search warrant,” an unknown officer stated in a report.
Police responded to a house on Berwyn Avenue SW near Porter Street in Wyoming. There were other individuals home at the time, including youngsters.
Officers discovered a red cooler in the master bedroom containing “a large sum of vacuum-sealed US currency,” according to the police report.
Police seized cocaine and $34,000 from a Mickey Mouse backpack, $34,000 from a silver shoe box, and over $100,000, along with cocaine, from a blue duffel bag, according to records.
A 9-millimeter handgun and two magazines were also discovered during the search, according to reports. Cruz was prohibited from possessing a handgun due to a prior felony narcotics conviction.
When the counting was done, the total cash confiscated was $1,173,200.
Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom stated at the time that the arrest and seizure “represent a significant disruption to the drug trade in the Grand Rapids metropolitan area.”
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