Alabama man sentenced to 30 years for trafficking drugs, guns
Apr. 14—IUKA — An Alabama man arrested in Tishomingo County who waived his right to indictment has pleaded guilty to three felony charges and has been sentenced to serve three decades.
Damion Taylor Gruenberg, 33, of Haleyville, Alabama, was arrested in January after a raid of a Burnsville residence netted more than 3 pounds of methamphetamine, an assortment of other drugs and almost $6,500 in cash. Instead of waiting for the case to be presented to the next grand jury for indictment and then wait for the case to go to trial, Gruenberg cut to the chase this week.
On Wednesday, April 12 in Tishomingo Circuit Court, Gruenberg waived his right to indictment then pleaded guilty to trafficking methamphetamine, trafficking hydrocodone (Lortabs) and trafficking stolen firearms.
Following the pleas, Circuit Judge Kelly Mims sentenced Gruenberg to a total of 65 years, but suspended 35, leaving 30 years to serve. The sentence is to be followed by five years of post-release supervision. If Gruenberg violates the terms of the supervision, he could be forced to serve the 35 years that were suspended.
Tishomingo County deputy sheriffs and Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics agents executed a search warrant on Jan. 10 at a Burnsville residence and seized 3.16 pounds of methamphetamine, about 10 grams of heroin, 69 dosage units of Lortab, 12 dosage units of hydrocodone and 10 dosage units of morphine. The officers also say they seized $6,454 in cash and two stolen firearms.
Charges for possession of heroin and morphine were later dropped. MBN has filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit to get the money.
This is not Gruenberg's first run-in with the law in recent years.
In January 2022, he was sentenced in Alabama to four years in prison for receiving stolen property and felony possession of marijuana. Just six months later, the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles granted his parole.
Less than five months after his release from prison, Gruenberg was in trouble again when an accidental gunshot wound alerted Alabama law enforcement.
Gruenberg shot himself in his left hand with a 9mm pistol on Nov. 13, 2022. As a friend was driving him to the hospital, the friend called 911. Deputy sheriffs intercepted the car and Gruenberg was airlifted to the University of Alabama Birmingham hospital.
When law enforcement went to the house where the shooting occurred, they found blood in the bedroom as well as drug paraphernalia in plain sight. When they checked out the car Gruenberg drove to the house, they found nearly a pound of marijuana, more than 2 pounds of methamphetamine, more than an ounce of fentanyl, a wide assortment of pills, plus two pistols.
That raid resulted in at least eight felony charges against Gruenberg but not his arrest. After he was treated for his hand wound at the hospital, he was released.
He remained on the run until he was captured in the Tishomingo County raid.
