Grand Rapids Grandma Gets 10-years Behind Bars
There are many ways that people choose to bulk up their retirement accounts as they head into the golden years. Property investment, blue chip stocks, even selling Avon products or getting a part-time job. The difference between most people and Sandra Lee Resterhouse, however, wasn’t the fact that she wanted her nest egg a little larger. It was the fact that she used meth sales to achieve it.
Resterhouse, a Grand Rapids resident and mother of four adult children, was recently sentenced in a federal court to a decade behind bars. She had been charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. This is a felony under federal law. The result was a 10 year prison sentence and fines of $1,500.
According to investigators, Resterhouse was a contact in Michigan for drugs being shipped out of California. Initially this had only been marijuana, but last year the packages began to include methamphetamine as well.
Investigators in California intercepted a package bound for Michigan that contained meth. They decided to allow the item to be delivered. Then they arrested the recipient. Upon hearing about the arrest, Resterhouse became frightened and left the state. She traveled around the country in an effort to evade law enforcement, but finally returned to Michigan where she was arrested and charged.
According to a sentencing memorandum read in court by her attorney, Resterhouse “admitted that she became involved with the methamphetamine conspiracy because she became greedy and thought she could earn some fast money to use for retirement.”
At her sentencing, Resterhouse apologized to the judge, explaining that she can now see how detrimental her actions were to the community. She also pointed out that her grandchildren were able to purchase drugs because of people just like her.
At 67 years of age, Resterhouse will be 77 when she is released from prison.