Alleged Drug Ringleader Is Arrested

The alleged ringleader of a cocaine distribution and money-laundering organization was arrested Friday after several years as a fugitive, culminating an investigation of more than seven years.

Darrington Sampson, 52, was taken into custody on a Los Angeles street by members of a federal task force, Chief Inspector John Clark of the U.S. Marshals Service said in a statement.

Investigators had recently learned Sampson was in the Los Angeles area, Clark said, and had tracked him to an apartment building.

Sampson disappeared in 1999 after being indicted by a grand jury in Milwaukee on federal narcotics and money-laundering charges.

After the indictment, authorities arrested 13 other defendants. All of them were convicted and are serving prison terms ranging from four to 30 years.

“Today’s message is simple,” Clark said. “Violent fugitives wanted for state, local or federal offenses may run, but they can’t hide.”

Sampson was jailed without bail pending a hearing Monday. He had not retained an attorney as of Friday night, Clark said.

The Sampson investigation was conducted by authorities from the U.S. Marshals Service, the Internal Revenue Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Milwaukee Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.