Nashville Man Gets 25 Years For Gun, Crack Crimes

NASHVILLE, TN — A federal judge told a Nashville man to "smarten up" as he sentenced him to 25 years in federal prison on gun and drug charges Thursday.

George Ivory, 27, pleaded guilty in November 2016 to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, attempted Hobbs Act robbery, discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, and being a convicted felon in possession of ammunition.

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Ivory shot 62-year-old Cecil Grissette, who was attempting to buy crack cocaine from another dealer. Ivory told Grissette to instead buy crack from him and when he didn't, Ivory shot him. Despite being shot in the head, torso and legs, Grissette survived the shooting, though he was left blinded.

The Hobbs Act is a 1946 law that makes it a federal crime to interfere in commerce via robbery or extortion. The law was aimed at rackets that took advantage of labor disputes or that tried to extort business owners for protection, but has since been applied in a number of other ways. Appellate courts have held that even the slightest interference in interstate commerce is enough to grant federal jurisdiction in these cases under the Constitution's Commerce Clause, but they have limited, in most instances, prosecutions to robberies or extortion efforts made against businesses rather than individuals acting in a personal capacity, as the courts have determined Congress did not intend to create an all-encompassing federal robbery and extortion law.

In a 2016 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that because the federal government has jurisdiction over the sale of drugs — even as a criminal enterprise — "the prosecution in a Hobbs Act robbery case satisfies the act's commerce element if it shows that the defendant robbed or attempted to rob a drug dealer of drugs or drug proceeds."

Ivory is the second person sentenced under the Hobbs Act in Middle Tennessee for a drug-related robbery in the last month, following a 35-year sentence for 22-year-old Calvin Starks handed down in late August.

Image via Metro Nashville Police