By Jim Hannah
Enquirer staff writer

FORT WRIGHT - Besides passing out room keys and fresh towels, police say the owner of a Ramada Inn also was distributing marijuana.

And it wasn't the first time.

Michael Todd Griffith, 40, who was on federal parole for a prior drug conviction, was arrested Wednesday afternoon on a charge of trafficking in marijuana. Narcotics agents also seized 10 pounds of marijuana from the hotel.

The Crescent Springs resident will be arraigned this morning in Kenton District Court.

Griffith, who is free after posting 10 percent of a $2,500 bond, couldn't be reached Thursday afternoon.

"This is the second time in four years that he's been caught selling drugs out of (the Ramada)," said Fort Wright Administrator Larry Klein. "He needs to go away. ... We're hoping something comes out of this arrest."

Griffith was on parole after being indicted by a federal grand jury in 2002 for distributing cocaine and possession with intent to distribute marijuana at the hotel in August 2000. Records were unclear on disposition of the case. He was also sentenced in April 1995 to five years in state prison for trafficking and conspiracy to traffic cocaine.

Klein said officials in the Kenton County suburb of 5,681 don't want a business involved in illegal drugs.

"We have been dealing with Mr. Griffith for a number of years up there at the Ramada," said Police Chief Daniel Kreinest. "The hotel has been a concern."

Klein and the chief said the area surrounding the Ramada is prone to crime. "We would like to get the area cleaned up," Kreinest said.

A spokesman for the Ramada Inn chain couldn't be reached late Thursday.

Fort Wright Mayor Gene Weaver said local police and the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force coordinated the investigation and arrest.

Greg Shumate, chairman of the Kenton County Republican Committee, said his group has been meeting at the hotel for two hours once a month for years, and he has observed no illegal activities.

"It's not the Westin," he said, "but I certainly have not seen drug dealing."

Enquirer reporter Cindy Schroeder contributed. E-mail jhannah@enquirer.com