BY JOHN HOPKINS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A federal grand jury has indicted a South Fairmount woman and seven Cincinnati-area men for their alleged roles in a drug trafficking ring that stretched from Texas to Cincinnati.
In all, 18 people face charges that they used a commercial trucking company, the U.S. mail and commercial delivery services to ship loads of marijuana into the Tristate.
The indictment charges each of the individuals with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute marijuana in excess of 100 kilograms and cocaine in excess of 500 grams. Each person faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to 40 years in prison, if convicted.
The area residents charged were: Damon Helton, 23, of 1573 Tremont St., South Fairmount; Carl Helton, 38, of 1819 Cleveland Ave., Norwood; Dorothy Blair, 24, of 1573 Tremont St., South Fairmount; William Ream, 27, of 2235 Cleneay Ave., Norwood; Jack D. Botner, 27, of 2436 Hudson Ave., Norwood; Todd Hammons, 22, of 6767 Southknoll Dr., Mack; Mark Maley, 21, of 3068 Picwood Dr., Bridgetown; and William Cole, 22, of 1806 Cleveland Ave., Norwood.
The father of Todd Hammons, a former Oak Hills football player, said Thursday the charges against his son are the result of a misunderstanding.
"It's completely unfounded," Thomas Hammons of Mack said. Nine others from Laredo, Texas and one man from West Virginia also were named in the indictment, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.
Local and federal investigators said the suspects wired more than $325,000 in proceeds from the sale of drugs back and forth over the past three years. In one transaction, two personal watercraft worth $6,000 were used to pay a drug debt.
More than 600 pounds of marijuana was allegedly transported from Texas to Cincinnati for distribution.
The 26-count indictment also contained 20 counts of money laundering, three counts of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, and two counts of interstate travel to promote an illegal activity. The Cincinnati-area defendants appeared before Magistrate Judge Jack Sherman Jr. U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott is expected to preside over the case.
The arrests were the result of a multi-agency investigation that included Norwood and Laredo police, the Regional Narcotics Unit (RENU), the Drug Abuse Reduction Task Force (DART), U.S. Customs Service, the IRS' Criminal Investigation Division and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
