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Man admits to
trafficking pot |
Will forfeit $355,000,
SUV; could face prison time
By CHRISTOPHER BOBBY Tribune Chronicle |
WARREN — A 27-year-old Howland man will forfeit $355,000 to
authorities and could face up to more than six years in prison after
pleading guilty Thursday to marijuana trafficking charges.
Richard A. Minich, 4006 Fairlawn Heights S.E., remains free on $250,000
bond, and Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge John M. Stuard agreed to lift
electronically monitored house arrest while the defendant undergoes a
presentence investigation and background check before sentencing.
County Assistant Prosecutor Charles Morrow said Minich could qualify for
probation since he has a clean criminal record. He said that rather than
recommend a sentence, he will accept what will come in the presentence
investigation report.
Minich, whose arrest earlier this year capped one of the largest pot busts
in county history, pleaded guilty to a third- and fourth-degree marijuana
trafficking charges. A possession charge was dismissed in exchange for the
plea.
Sgt. Jeff Orr of the Trumbull and Geauga (TAG) Law Enforcement Task Force
recalls it as the second-largest forfeiture in a drug case.
Besides the $355,000 of the $368,000 seized, the task force is in line to
get two Vizio widescreen TVs, a DVD player, scanner, shotgun, two 9-mm
handguns, a .38-caliber handgun, money counter, two or three digital scales
and a 2002 Cadillac Escalade. Proceeds — some of it from sales or auctions —
will be divided up between the Prosecutor’s Office, TAG and other law
enforcement agencies such as Howland and Warren police.
Morrow said the proceeds under law must be used for future drug enforcement
efforts such as equipment and matches for grant money.
Another car, motorcycle, computer, wedding gifts and $13,000 in cash will be
returned to the defendant under terms of the plea agreement worked out
between Morrow and Minich’s attorney, J. Gerald Ingram.
Minich, who has been working in the heating and air conditioning business,
also faces fines of up to $15,000.
The cash and property were seized in Jan. 9 raids at Minich’s home and a
duplex at 151 and 153 Bonnie Brae Ave. N.E. Deputies with TAG and other
police said they seized 24 pounds of pot after buying 60 more pounds during
undercover buys before the raid.
Orr said a four-month long investigation led up to the raids that included
Minich’s Fairlawn Heights S.E. home which officers said was fortified with
steel bars and a security system besides three pit bulls.
The raid wasn’t about the forfeiture, he said. ‘‘It’s more about getting the
drugs off the streets. Believe me, if we could have timed it to get drugs
rather than cash, that’s fine.’’
Orr said the largest seizure was a five-year-old federal drug case that
resulted in a $500,000 forfeiture to the federal authorities, who busted a
marijuana pipeline between Texas, Michigan and northeast Ohio. Two
properties in Bristolville, two in Cortland and two in Warren were
confiscated, along with $519,000 in cash found buried in the ground.
cbobby@tribtoday.com
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