18 men indicted in sting of drug pipeline

15-month investigation accuses tavern owner on Triplett Boulevard

By Phil Trexler
Beacon Journal staff writer

Published on Wednesday, Apr 20, 2011

Federal and local law enforcement say they've brought down two major drug rings responsible for bringing cocaine, heroin and marijuana into the Akron area.

The 15-month investigation reaches from the streets of Akron to the U.S. border with Mexico and has ties to Nevada and Arizona traffickers.

Law enforcement officials contend the network ended Tuesday with the unsealing of indictments against 18 men, including an Akron father and his son and a Triplett Boulevard restaurant and bar owner.

In all, federal and local authorities said they seized more than 380 pounds of marijuana, 22 pounds of cocaine, 4 pounds of heroin and 2 pounds of methamphetamines.

In addition, they confiscated $271,000 in cash, eight vehicles and $500,000 in other assets.

At a news conference Tuesday in downtown Akron, authorities said the investigation is the result of local and federal law enforcement collaborating in times of decreasing manpower and budgets.

''Resources and budgets are diminishing, and unless we work together, cases like this cannot happen,'' said Carole Rendon, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

Geno Corley, resident agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said a citizen's tip about drug trafficking triggered the probe in 2010.

With the help of an undercover informant, local and federal drug agents were able to unravel widespread drug importing into Akron, he said.

Corley estimated the sales network had been in place for at least three years and involved hundreds of pounds of cocaine and thousands of pounds of marijuana.

Agents uncovered, he said, ''widespread, multistate criminal conduct'' that funneled more than $1 million back to traffickers in Mexico.

He said the arrests give law enforcement and the public ''a glimpse of a sophisticated drug-trafficking organization'' and is a ''step forward in bringing down one drug organization at a time.''

Summit County Sheriff Drew Alexander, long a proponent of task-force law enforcement, told reporters the investigation started on the streets.

The case involved officers from Akron, Copley, Springfield and Stow, Summit County deputies and federal agents with the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the DEA and the FBI. From the state level, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation lent support.

''This is major case that started from ground zero and took them all the way to the top,'' Alexander said.

Authorities said those charged include ringleaders Anthony Norman Jr., 25, and his father, Anthony Norman Sr., 42, both of Akron, and Robert Donahue III, 33, of Clinton.

Also named in the indictment were Akron residents:

• Nicholas Helfrick, 30; Marshall West, 33; Michael Coble, 31; Robert Evans III, 34; Anthony Skipper Jr., 30; Daniel Dunson, 44; Jeremy Simmons, 33; Russell Dimick, 41; Thomas Hilton Jr., 31; and Dwaine Traylor, 39.

Indictments also were announced against J.C. Lanair Walton, 34, of Copley; Jeffrey Guthier, 34, of Norton; Edward Steinbacher, 45, of Hinckley; and James Hallberg, 41, and Jerry Gutierrez Robles, 58, both of Casa Grande, Ariz.

The Normans and Helfrick are accused of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, marijuana and heroin from May 2010 until February. Norman Jr. is accused of obtaining the drugs from a supplier in Las Vegas. Prosecutors contend the Normans worked out of houses on Inman Street and North Firestone Boulevard.

Donahue is accused with the remaining defendants of conspiracy to sell more than 2,200 pounds of marijuana beginning in 2006. The marijuana was brought to the Akron area from Arizona, according to federal prosecutors.

Prosecutors say Donahue used $52,000 in drug money to purchase the Last Quarter bar on Triplett Boulevard. They also say he had more than $258,000 at his West Comet Road home in March.

Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.

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