He had been convicted previously drug distribution and faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI — A Kalamazoo man will spend the rest of his life in prison for selling heroin that led to a Portage man’s death.
Steven Craig Whyte, 29, was convicted Wednesday, March 28, by a federal grand jury of five crimes, including distribution of heroin resulting in death, conspiring to distribute heroin and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Whyte had been convicted previously drug distribution and faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
Whyte sold heroin that killed Adam Boomers, 29, of Portage.
Kalamazoo man faces charges for deadly heroin
According to evidence presented at trial, Whyte conspired with others to sell heroin in Kalamazoo and to get guns to protect the drugs and the money he received from selling it. Officers found heroin, drug packaging materials and a gun in the February 2016 execution of a search warrant of Whyte’s residence.
Police also searched Whyte’s phone, which showed pictures that indicated he used multiple guns to traffic drugs.
On Oct. 15,2016, Whyte sold heroin via an intermediary to Boomers. Boomers used it and died.
“The opioid crisis is ravaging communities around the country, and West Michigan is no different,” U. S. Attorney Andrew Birge said in a press release. “We grieve Adam’s loss with his family and with his community. The serious sentence in this case will send a message that the federal government will pursue those who deal deadly drugs to the fullest extent permissible under law.”
Whyte’s case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Kalamazoo Valley Enforcement Team and the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety.
