Other Recent Convictions For Drugs, Gun, Robbery, Assault
A 46-year-old Wilmington man faces 25 years to life in prison after his conviction for a 2011 bank robbery. Deputy Attorneys General Susan Schmidhauser and Ben Snyder secured the guilty verdict for Russell Grimes from a Kent County Superior Court jury. In August 2011, Grimes drove the get-away car after the armed robbery of the First National Bank of Wyoming in the 100 block of Irish Hill Road in Felton. Grimes was convicted of Robbery First Degree, Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, Possession of a Firearm by a Person Prohibited, Conspiracy Second Degree, and five counts of Reckless Endangering. Grimes will be sentenced by Judge Robert Young on January 26, 2017.
A 41-year-old Dover woman will spend 11 years in prison for her role in a Kent County drug ring. Tyra Mills was sentenced by Judge William Witham, Jr. for her conviction on charges of Aggravated Possession of Cocaine, Aggravated Possession Tier 3 Quantity of Heroin with Aggravating Factor, two counts of Drug Dealing Tier 4 Quantity of Heroin, and Possession of a Non-Controlled Prescription Substance. Mills was charged in connection with a 2014 Kent County investigation which resulted in the arrest and prosecution of 20 people involved in the drug trade in Kent and New Castle Counties, mostly centered in the Capital Park neighborhood of South Dover. Following her 11 years in prison, Mills will serve 6 months in Work Release, followed by 18 months of probation. Deputy Attorney General Lindsay Taylor prosecuted the case.
A man and woman from Pennsylvania have pleaded guilty for their parts in a February 2016 hold up of a convenience store. Deputy Attorney General Zach Rosen secured the pleas from 23-year-old Aris Patterson, of Yeadon, PA and 25-year old Samantha Hooker of Glenolden, PA for the robbery of the Wawa in the 700 block of Philadelphia Pike in Bellefonte at gunpoint. Armed with handguns, Patterson and another man entered the store in the middle of the afternoon, and demanded money from employees and customers. One of the suspects ran from the store, and Patterson got into a vehicle driven by Hooker. After a short chase, Patterson jumped from the vehicle and was taken into custody. Hooker was arrested later in the evening after the vehicle’s registration was traced to her. Patterson pled guilty to Robbery First Degree, Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, Robbery Second Degree, Conspiracy Second Degree, and Resisting Arrest, and will be sentenced by Judge Vivian Medinilla on Feb. 3, 2017. Hooker pled guilty to Robbery Second Degree, Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, Conspiracy Second Degree, and Resisting Arrest. Hooker is being held at the Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution, and will also be sentenced on Feb. 3, 2017.
Deputy Attorney General Greg Babowal won a conviction against Jeff Crippen, 49, of Dover for Possession of a Firearm by a Person Prohibited, and Possession of Ammunition by a Person Prohibited at a bench trial in front of Judge Jeffrey Clark. Crippen had been sentenced to 25 years in prison for trafficking cocaine and related charges in 1995. Crippen was released from prison, and returned to drug dealing, leading to his arrest in 2015, where police found a loaded .9-mm pistol in his home. Crippen faces a minimum mandatory 10 years in prison when sentenced in January.
Deputy Attorney General Karin Volker secured a guilty plea from Patricia Wisher, 34, of Elkton, Maryland for Assault Third Degree. During an argument in June 2015, Wisher punched her boyfriend’s mother, causing a cut on her head requiring stitches. Wisher was sentenced by Judge Eric Davis to one year in prison. Wisher is also pending felony arson charges in another case.