CLEVELAND — The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio held a press conference Thursday to give details on a drug bust with ties to the Cleveland area.
U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman and DEA Special Agent in Charge Keith Martin announced federal charges of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances against 10 people, most from Northeast Ohio. The leader of the group apparently smuggled a tiny phone into prison and controlled shipments into Cleveland of fentanyl pills made to look like oxycodone, as well as cocaine, meth, and other fentanyl analogues.
The 10 arrested are:
- Jose Lozano-Leon, 41 - Mexican citizen living in Painesville
- Mario Hernandez, 31 - Mexico
- Clemente Gutierrez Meraz, 27 - Mexico
- Lorne Franklin, 45 - Cleveland
- Leevern Coleman, 49 - Bedford
- Belen Orozco-Sigala, 36 - Painesville
- Najee Amie Evans, 28 - Cleveland
- Troy Pinnock, 47 - Cleveland
- Damon Bybee, 60 - Garfield Heights
- Montez Vanburn, 38 - Cleveland
Officials say Lozano-Leon was the leader of the drug trafficking ring, and had been serving an 18-month prison sentence at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown for illegal reentry into the United States from Mexico. He allegedly used the smuggled cell phone to communicate with the co-defendants as to the drug shipments and distributions, with one incident apparently involving the arrival of 5,000 fentanyl pills.
Said Herdman:
"The lead defendant is accused of running an international drug trafficking organization from a jail cell in Ohio. He has come to this country illegally and allegedly made his living selling the same kinds of drugs that are killing our friends and neighbors. He is an importer of pain and will be prosecuted accordingly."