Des Moines man acquitted of 2022 murder faces federal robbery charges from same shooting
A Des Moines man acquitted of murder last year is now facing federal charges related to the same incident.
Sam Sando, 27, was charged in state court with the January 2022 shooting of Trishay Thompson. Prosecutors allege Sando and another man, Salifou Sahr, killed Thompson during a botched drug deal. Sando was acquitted of all charges, while Sahr, who was tried separately, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.
Now federal prosecutors are taking a second bite at the apple, charging Sando with conspiracy and attempted robbery, attempted possession with intent to distribute, and carrying a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, all in relation, they say, to the encounter that led to Thompson's death.
Prosecutors filed their indictment in March, but the case was not made public until after Sando was arrested May 8 in Rochester, New York. Court records show he has been ordered detained pending trial due to the seriousness of the charges as well as unrelated domestic violence, probation and no-contact order violations. He is appealing that order.
His attorney, Alexander Smith, said his client continues to maintain his innocence.
"Sam Sando was found not guilty in state court, and we’re looking forward to his acquittal in federal court as well," he said.
What happened to Trishay Thompson?
According to trial testimony, Sando had allegedly arranged to purchase marijuana from another man, Andrew Meyer, who got a ride with Thompson and Thompson's girlfriend to an apartment building where the sale was to happen. Prosecutors alleged both sides were dealing in bad faith; Meyer planned to hand over counterfeit drugs while Sando, with Sahr, planned to rob him.
Meyer testified that, suspecting something was amiss, he tried to call off the deal, only to have two masked men approach their car and order them not to move. When Thompson tried to drive away, they opened fire, fatally wounding him.
Police found bullet casings from two guns and witnesses recalled two people running from the scene. Sahr and Sando, at trial, each argued the other was the assailant, suggesting either that the real shooter might have wielded two weapons, or that Meyer may have been carrying his own gun and returned fire.
In addition to murder, Sando was found not guilty of attempted murder and robbery.
When can prosecutors charge the same misconduct twice?
Criminal suspects cannot be tried twice for the same offense under what is known as the "double jeopardy" clause of the U.S. Constitution.
But the Supreme Court has long held that state and federal prosecutors can separately charge for the same conduct under what is called the "dual sovereign" doctrine.
"It’s a disturbing part of the law that many citizens are not familiar with," Smith said.
Sando's charges are at least the second recent case in which local federal prosecutors have brought new charges against someone acquitted for murder. Tyrone Crawford was found not guilty in 2022 of murdering Jeffrey Gillom, but was convicted the following year by a federal jury of possessing ammunition as a felon while shooting Gillom. He was sentenced to 10 years on the federal charge.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment on the Sando prosecution but pointed to a U.S. Department of Justice Policy governing such cases. Under the policy, federal prosecutors seeking to charge a state defendant must get approval from senior officials and show the case involves a "substantial federal interest" that the first prosecution did not address.
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines man acquitted of murder facing new federal robbery charges
