By Marie McCain
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PIERCE TWP. - Authorities in this western Clermont County township call it one of the most emotional cases they've had. And they're reluctant to discuss their investigation of the Union Township man indicted in the death of his son.

"There are many things we can't say and don't want to say because it could jeopardize our case," said Tony Brock, senior assistant Clermont County prosecutor, during a news conference Thursday at the Pierce Township Police Department.

But officials said their suspicions about James S. Dean were significantly piqued when they discovered $20,000 in bundles of cash throughout the Davis Road apartment where Dean's son and another man overdosed last month.

It is believed that Dean, 44, provided drugs to his 19-year-old son. He is charged with one count each of involuntary manslaughter and possession of drugs, and two counts each of aggravated trafficking in drugs and corrupting another with drugs.

He is in the Clermont County Jail in lieu of $500,000 cash.

On Sept. 5, Dean called emergency workers after allegedly finding his son, James J. Dean, and a second man unresponsive at the Davis Road residence.

The two men were taken to Mercy Hospital Anderson, where the younger Dean was pronounced dead. The other man has since been released from the hospital and is recovering, officials said.

It was determined that the pair overdosed on oxycodone, the generic form of OxyContin, a painkiller commonly prescribed to cancer patients.

On Thursday, Col. James Smith, Pierce Township police chief, said the large sum of money was only one of the reasons investigators became suspicious of the elder Dean.

Flanked by Brock and Clermont County Sheriff A.J. "Tim" Rodenberg Jr., Smith said officials were also skeptical of statements the elder Dean made about how his son might have gotten the drug.

The elder Dean returned to the area from Florida earlier this year. He has said in earlier interviews that he came back to help his son get off drugs. He has denied any wrongdoing.

E-mail mmccain@enquirer.com