CLEVELAND — Officials from the United States Department of Justice announced Tuesday that 11 people have been indicted as part of an international drug trafficking investigation connected to an alleged Cleveland-based fentanyl distribution network “with an Italian source of supply.”
The DOJ says the 11 individuals were charged for their roles in an international drug trafficking conspiracy that involved the importation of fentanyl, synthetic opioids, and synthetic cannabinoids into the United States, and the distribution of those drugs in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, and elsewhere domestically.
Here are the 11 people who have been charged in the 34-count indictment:
- Brian Lumbus, Jr., AKA B, 43, of Cleveland, Ohio
- Giancarlo Miserotti, AKA Karl, 51, of Italy
- Brianna Lumbus, 22, of Cleveland, Ohio
- Kayla S. Goudlock, 25, of North Royalton, Ohio
- Jennifer Robinson, 38, of Tennessee
- Latasha Harris, 40, of Toledo, Ohio
- Dominique Hammond, 37, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Wanda Ward, 46, of Johnson City, Tennessee
- Marchello Lumbus, AKA Chello, 42, of Cleveland, Ohio
- Jessica Cochran, 28, of Lorain, Ohio
- Braisia Lumbus, 23, of Cleveland, Ohio
All 11 of the defendants have been charged in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. Additionally, six were charged with substantive possession with intent to distribute controlled substances offenses. Nine were charged with interstate travel in aid of racketeering, and eight were charged in an international money laundering conspiracy. Finally, nine of the defendants were charged with using a communications facility to facilitate a felony drug offense.
Investigators say while he was incarcerated in an Ohio state prison in Youngstown, Lumbus orchestrated the conspiracy, ordering "significant quantities" of fentanyl, synthetic opioids, and synthetic cannabinoids from Miserotti, an Italian citizen and resident.
Lumbus has been in prison since 2013. The indictment says the conspiracy began in April of 2016. Investigators are not sure how Lumbus became acquainted with Miserotti while behind bars.
“From the confines of the Ohio Penitentiary, Brian Lumbus led an international and interstate drug trafficking organization that brought fentanyl and other, more potent synthetic drugs from overseas factories to the streets of our region,” said United States Attorney Rebecca C. Lutzko. “Several others, both in the United States and outside it, acted in concert with Lumbus to do what he physically could not: obtain, assemble, and repackage those drugs, then mail or deliver them to other conspirators for further distribution."
Miserotti is accused of arranging for kilogram quantities of the controlled substances to be exported from several foreign countries first to Italy, then to the United States, for redistribution by conspiracy members.
The DOJ says investigators with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction discovered evidence of the criminal activity and immediately alerted the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the DEA for further investigation.
It was determined that U.S.-based conspirators received the foreign shipments, cut and mixed the drugs, and redistributed them. Other members of the conspiracy used Bitcoin cryptocurrency to pay Miserotti for the drugs.
“Brian Lumbus led an elaborate drug trafficking network that imported dangerous synthetic drugs and other substances from foreign-based suppliers to then distribute to customers throughout the region” added DEA Special Agent in Charge Orville Greene. “The outstanding assistance and support DEA received from our foreign and domestic counterparts led to the successful apprehension of Lumbus and his co-conspirators. Today’s actions send a clear message that law enforcement will work locally, and even across international borders, to seek justice against criminal organizations."
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