Milwaukee County Court Commissioner Barry Phillips, on Thursday, refused to throw out a felony drug-house charge against a top official in the Clerk of Circuit Court’s office. The judge sent the case on to trial after prosecutors said her basement was used to package and store cocaine and fentanyl for sale.
Samotria Matthews, 54, appeared in person for her preliminary hearing on a charge of maintaining a drug trafficking place as a party to a crime. If convicted, she faces up to 3½ years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Her attorney argued there was no proof she knew what was happening in the house she has owned since 1999. Commissioner Phillips was not persuaded. The arraignment is set for Sept. 3. She is expected to plead not guilty.
Matthews was a deputy division administrator and assistant chief deputy clerk under elected Clerk of Circuit Court Anna Maria Hodges. Hodges suspended her, revoked her system access, and removed her name from the office website after her Aug. 13 arrest. She had worked for the county for more than 30 years, briefly retired in 2022, then returned to Hodges’ staff. In 2023, she earned about $92,000. The Heartland Post reported she also collected a county pension of $2,608.65 per month plus $53,775 in back pay after returning.
Police say the case started Aug. 11 with undercover surveillance at 4527 N. 46th St. Terrion Matthews, 26, fled in a black Acura. Officers chased him nearly four miles at speeds approaching 97 mph. Heavy traffic caused officers to lose sight of the car. Minutes later, Rodney Matthews, 54, tore out of the driveway in a black BMW. That pursuit topped 100 mph and ended when the car smashed a traffic signal. Rodney was the driver and Terrion the passenger. It is believed Rodney went to pick up Terrion after he ditched the Acura. Sandwich bags, a digital scale, and several phones were found in the vehicles.
A search of the house followed. In the basement and elsewhere, officers recovered roughly 1,280 grams of fentanyl, more than 167 grams of cocaine, a fentanyl-cocaine mixture of about 432 grams, multiple hydraulic presses used to form bricks, blenders with fentanyl residue, digital scales, cutting agents, sandwich bags, about $2,000 in cash, and a handgun. Property records list Samotria Bellamy, also known as Samotria Matthews, as the owner since 1999. Mail for all three defendants arrived there. Police said they believed she shared a bedroom with Rodney Matthews. The complaint states the quantity and equipment were consistent with manufacturing and sale, not personal use.
Rodney Matthews faces a stack of felonies: possession with intent to deliver cocaine and fentanyl, maintaining a drug trafficking place, possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, reckless endangerment, fleeing police, harboring a felon, and bail jumping. Terrion Matthews is charged with possession with intent, maintaining a drug trafficking place, and reckless endangerment. Both were held on $75,000 bond. Samotria Matthews walked into her first appearance already out of custody. Court Commissioner Katharine Kucharski set her bail at $2,500, and records show it had already been posted. She was ordered not to have contact with Rodney or Terrion while the case is pending.
Questions remain about who paid Samotria Matthews’ bail.
Her lawyer, Joshua Uller, called the decision to charge her a “travesty.” He said she is “not a criminal or drug dealer,” had no knowledge of her “estranged husband’s” alleged activities and will be vindicated. Prosecutors say ownership of the house, the shared living arrangement and the industrial-scale operation in the basement are enough to send the felony to trial. A commissioner agreed Thursday.
Hodges, a Democrat elected in 2022, has said the investigation is unrelated to Matthews’ official duties. County Executive David Crowley, who does not supervise the clerk’s office, issued a statement about accountability and then stepped back. Milwaukee taxpayers are left with the picture: a senior criminal-court administrator, a house full of illicit drugs, two high-speed chases, and a pending trial that will test whether “I didn’t know” is a defense when the factory is in your basement.
