Couple charged with felony drug trafficking

An Ironton man is in legal trouble after he tried to cash in a $1 million dollar lottery ticket belonging to a relative.

Brandon S. Haas, 19, was indicted by the Lawrence County grand jury on Dec. 17 on one charge of second-degree felony aggravated theft after he allegedly “did knowingly obtain or exert control over” the winning Ohio Lottery scratch off ticket from his relative.

Lawrence County prosecutor Brigham Anderson explained that it was Haas’ aunt who allegedly purchased the ticket. She then gave it to her father to keep it safe and Haas found it and turned it in as his to the Ohio Lottery Commission to cash it.

“He did not get the money,” Anderson said. “Detectives were able to talk to the Ohio Lottery Commission and get them to stop payment on the check. He did not get the actual money.”

It is a second-degree felony aggravated theft because of the amount of money involved and the penalty, if convicted, is two to eight years in prison.

In other cases, two people from Dayton are charged with felonies as major drug offenders after deputies said they were caught with 854.24 grams of fentanyl at a South Point hotel.

Anderson said a sheriff’s deputy was at the hotel on an unrelated matter when he was notified by a staff member about the drug activity. A search warrant was obtained and Jessica D. Ruggles, 37, Dayton, was arrested and indicted on charges of first-degree felony trafficking in drugs and first-degree felony possession of drugs and Trevelle Marshun Scott Sr., 45, Dayton, was arrested and indicted on charges of first-degree felony trafficking in drugs, first-degree felony possession of drugs and third-degree felony having weapons under disability.

Anderson said the street value of the fentanyl was over $100,000. Fentanyl is usually sold in quantities from one gram to 1/10 of a gram, meaning that there were potentially 845-8,450 doses of the drug.

“It was the largest amount of fentanyl we have ever recovered in Lawrence County,” said Anderson. He said the typical amount of fentanyl people are arrested with in the county is around five grams.

Other indictments include:
• Brent A. Patrick, 32, Coal Grove, fifth-degree felony attempted burglary.
• Carisma M. Sammons, 31, Huntington, West Virginia, third-degree felony tampering with evidence, fifth-degree felony vandalism and third-degree felony escape.
• Edward J. Holmes Jr., 42, Ironton, fourth-degree felony theft of a motor vehicle.
• Zachary A. Grubb, 18, Flatwoods, Kentucky, fourth-degree felony receiving stolen property, fourth-degree felony theft of a motor vehicle and fifth-degree felony breaking and entering.
• Tyron Markel, 34, Ironton, second-degree felony assault.
• Timothy D. Clark, 39, Ashland, Kentucky, first-degree felony aggravated burglary.
• Randy Carl Pine, 48, Chesapeake, third-degree felony failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer and first-degree misdemeanor driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
• Benjamin Reed, 39, South Point, third-degree felony aggravated possession of drugs.
• Zachary D. Queen, 34, Flatwoods, Kentucky, third-degree felony aggravated possession of drugs.
• Thomas J. Massie, 36, Ironton, fifth-degree felony aggravated possession of drugs.
• Don E. Pike Jr., 42, South Point, fifth-degree felony aggravated possession of drugs.
• Benjamin C. Hawk, 32, Proctorville, fifth-degree felony aggravated possession of drugs, fifth-degree possession of drugs with a prior conviction and fifth-degree felony identity fraud.
• Jeremy R. Lenarz, 34, Olive Hill, Kentucky, fifth-degree felony aggravated possession of drugs.
• Danny E. Henry, 61, South Point, fifth-degree felony aggravated possession of drugs.
• David A. Rann, 27, Ironton, fifth-degree felony possession of a controlled substance.
• Zachary C. Hall, 38, third-degree felony tampering with evidence and third-degree felony possession of heroin.
• Sheila A. Peters, 58, Proctorville, two counts of fifth-degree felony possession of drugs.