Southern Ohio Justice Follow-up By: Nikki Blankenship

Scioto County leaders investigated for human trafficking

By Nikki Blankenship

Earlier this year, Spike TV aired its eight-part series, titled “Gone: The Forgotten Women of Ohio.” The documentary attempted to find answers in some of the area's unsolved cases, including the local case of Megan Lancaster who has been missing since April 3, 2013. Despite their efforts, there are still a plethora of questions that remain unanswered.

A sealed affidavit used in a trafficking case may provide more insights. According to the recently obtained affidavit, several local individuals have been named in a federal investigation into human trafficking, drug trafficking and public corruption that reaches all the way to the state level. The investigation links the alleged criminal organization to some of Scioto County's missing women. A sealed affidavit filed by the FBI with U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division in Columbus on Aug. 19, 2015, as part of a federal investigation, names several individuals in connection to varied criminal activities including trafficking in narcotics, human trafficking and public corruption.

Targets of the investigation include Portsmouth attorney and former City Councilman Michael Mearan; Portsmouth insurance agent Fred Brisker; Ashland, Kentucky car dealer Daren Biggs; convicted narcotics trafficker, Mark Eubanks, of Columbus; Timothy Wayne Mutter, of Franklin Furnace; Richard Glenn, of Portsmouth; Patricia Tsotsos, of Portsmouth; Trent Banks, of Columbus; Kenyatta “Yatta” Connally, of Portsmouth; Dan Schoenberger, of Columbus; Donald Smith, of Columbus; Brett Fluharty, of Milton, West Virginia; and Lindsay Porter, of Portsmouth. There were additional targets of investigation that remained unnamed in the affidavit. The list included an unnamed Scioto County Common Pleas judge, an unnamed state judge, various unnamed members of law enforcement, unnamed staff at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF) and various levels of unnamed public officials.

The affidavit explains that information gathered up until the filing date had been collected through the FBI Portsmouth office and the Southern Ohio Drug Task Force (SODTF). During the time, the FBI and SODTF were making controlled buys of heroin and had already tapped the phone of one subject. Additional information was provided by confidential informants. Mearan is at the center of the investigation. The affidavit states that according to gathered evidence, “Mearan is an attorney and former City Councilman in Portsmouth, Ohio who recruits females to engage in prostitution in southern Ohio and occasionally other US locations.”

Per the affidavit, according to the investigation, Mearan allegedly conspired with public officials who pull legal strings in favor of females employed by Mearan. “Mearan has been reported as offering his legal services, clothing, residence, food etc., to females in return for them becoming prostitutes for him and conducting sexual acts for his clients including a Portsmouth, Ohio judge, Southern Ohio Correctional Facility Staff members, and local businessmen,” the affidavit states. “This information was obtained through numerous interviews, including interviews with former prostitutes. Mearan has also been reported as being involved in purchasing drugs, including Oxycodone and heroin, from Eubanks and others, in order to provide them to his prostitutes and clients.

Mearan has also been suspected as being in collusion with a Portsmouth, Ohio judge to get females out on bail, parole, etc., in order to use those females as prostitutes and with unknown law enforcement or legislative officials to tip off Mearan's drug suppliers including Eubanks.” The document indicates that the local attorney's involvement in prostitution can be traced back to the 1990s. According to the evidence presented, Mearan transported prostitutes across the country to meet with clients. These trips are allegedly set up by Mearan and Brisker.

“The females travel specifically to meet clients that were arranged by Mearan and Brisker. The trips would usually last between two days and one week. The scope of this investigation includes subjects who are conspiring with Mearan to facilitate the activities of the Criminal Enterprise in Ohio, Kentucky, New Jersey, Michigan, Florida and New York,” Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Special Agent Keith P. Leighton, who prepared the affidavit, reported.

Evidence includes a compiled list of females who worked as prostitutes for Mearan as well as men (commonly referred to as “johns”) who were provided their services. “The subjects include attorneys and one current state judge,” the document reads. “To date, 27 women have been identified as former or current prostitutes.”

Several informants gave statements of public corruption. In one such example, an informant reported that in late 2013, while she was incarcerated (outside of Scioto County), Mearan represented her as her attorney and helped her obtain a judicial release. She further explained that he then had her parole supervision moved to Scioto County by instructing the court that the female was a dog trainer and would be living with Mearan in order to train his dogs.

Evidence presented in the affidavit indicates that the female was not a dog trainer and became employed by Mearan as a prostitute. The affidavit further states that the informant was a prostitute for Mearan for approximately one year and met with interstate clients including Biggs. The affidavit further documents a separate interstate arrangement, which allegedly occurred in 2014, during which Mearan allegedly arranged for two women to travel to Palm Beach, Florida, to engage in acts of prostitution, all of which was corroborated by photos, telephone analysis and airline information.

Not only did the document link Mearan to acts of prostitution and drug trafficking, it further associated him with women that have gone missing or who have been found murdered.For example, it reads, “On April 3, 2013, a local female went missing after her automobile was discovered parked at a local fast food restaurant in Portsmouth, Ohio. This female was a known prostitute, intravenous drug user and a prostitute employed by Mearan. The investigation into this female's disappearance is currently being conducted by the Portsmouth, Ohio Police Department (PPD).”

The affidavit then states, “On July 17, 2013, another woman utilized in the past by Mearan to engage in prostitution was found deceased in the Scioto County area,” the affidavit reads. “An autopsy revealed the cause of death as multiple traumas. The investigation is being conducted by the Scioto County Sheriff's Office (SCSO) and remains unsolved. The FBI Portsmouth, Ohio office is providing assistance to the SCSO and the PPD with their investigations.”

Mearan is cited as being “an integral part” of numerous other investigations including an Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Cincinnati Field Division White Slave Trafficking investigation, FBI Cincinnati Field Division Human Trafficking investigation, an FBI Detroit Field Division Extortion investigation, an FBI Cincinnati Field Division Mexican Drug Trafficking Organization investigation, an FBI Cincinnati Field Division Violent Gang investigation, an FBI Pittsburgh Field Division Violent Gang investigation and a DEA Cincinnati Resident Office investigation. Mearan's phone number has also been identified as used in association with online advertising with Backpage.com, a classifieds site known for sex-related ads and online prostitution. Advertisements associated with Mearan's phone number included ads flagged for featuring underage girls. Many individuals involved in the investigation for supplying narcotics to the criminal enterprise have since been convicted while other subjects remain at large.

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  According to court documents, the FBI began investigating a drug trafficking organization operating in central and southern Ohio in 2014,” Frank Lewis reported in an article titled “Locals sentenced in federal court” published by The Portsmouth Daily Times on Oct. 19, 2016.

Lewis' story further credited the convictions to Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Timothy J. Plancon, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Detroit Field Division, agencies participating in the Southern Ohio Drug Task Force, Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs and U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson who presided over the case.

The investigation also led to the convictions of targets Mutter, Glenn, Eubanks, Smith and Banks as well as additional conspirators Johnathan Nunez, of Wheelersburg; Kent Whiteside, of Columbus; and Gregory Workman of Springfield. All have been convicted of conspiracy to distribute narcotics. There are no other known arrests associated with the investigation. 

Felons are Ohio's New PI(s)

         A lengthy and complicated new law enacted by the Ohio legislature and signed by Governor Kasich includes provisions that will make it easier for individuals with conviction histories to obtain employment and occupational licenses (PI Licenses).The law amends several Ohio statutes relating to collateral sanctions for criminal offenses by creating certificates of qualification for employment, reducing licensing restrictions for certain fields such as cosmetology, construction, security and private investigators, and expanding courts’ authority to seal criminal records.

      As it relates to occupational licensing (PI Licenses), the law generally removes the disqualification of individuals for most criminal convictions that are not recent (either within one or three years depending on the licensing agency), crimes involving moral turpitude, or a disqualifying offense. The statute contains a comprehensive definition of "moral turpitude" that generally includes serious crimes of violence or sexual in nature. A "disqualifying offense" is defined as an offense that is a felony that has a direct nexus to an individual’s proposed or current field of licensure, certification, or employment. The problem here is that Ohio’s licensing entity currently only views Murder and Armed Robbery and Domestic Violence as disqualifiers.

    The bill replaces the term "first offender" with "eligible offender," which is defined as anyone who has been convicted of an offense in this state or any other jurisdiction and who has not more than one felony conviction, not more than two misdemeanor convictions if the convictions are not of the same offense, or not more than one felony conviction and one misdemeanor conviction in this state or any other jurisdiction. Under both existing and the new law, convictions of certain specified offenses, and related convictions in specified circumstances do not count as a conviction.

     While other States and PI Associations attempt to bring about a more professional status to private investigators Ohio takes a step backward and invites convicted felons and ex-cons to become licensed PI(s) in their state.

Justice In Ohio

PISGS would like to hear how our licensed security guard and private investigation companies "Contribute to a Safer Ohio"  Please take a moment to consider how you and your company make Ohio safer. What do you do on a daily basis to make our citizens feel safe and secure?

                                                Justice In Ohio  By: Jim Silvania

                        I received the above in email from the Ohio Department of Public Safety asking for comments as to what as a private investigator I do on a daily basis to make citizens in Ohio feel safer?

I cannot speak for every licensed private investigator in Ohio nor the Nation but I can reflect on my 33 years of being a private investigator and 20 years as a law enforcement officer in that state.

                        What private investigators in Ohio attempt to do is bring to its citizens is JUSTICE. You know the blind lady with the balancing scales. Something very lacking in this state. One only has to watch cable tv’s Investigation Discovery Channel or Spike TV to see the many miscarriages of justice in our state.  Missing women in Chillicothe, OH,  in Pepples, OH nine people shot and killed; both remain unsolved. I could go on, but you can catch the rest on either of the above-mentioned TV Channels.

                        Ohio is political unique in that it has 88 counties and therefore 88 county coroners and 88 county sheriffs, but only 4-5 of those counties have a forensic pathologist as the coroner. The others have your regular family physician with no forensic experience to determine the cause of death. In many cases private investigators in Ohio are called upon to relieve a family’s grief in attempting to determine the true cause of a wrongful death. Yearly a number of homicides in the State are written off as natural or accidental deaths.

                        The State of Ohio is like several other states nationwide that have a highway patrol rather than a state police with statewide policing jurisdiction. In Ohio, unless you commit a criminal act in a motor vehicle upon a state highway or on state property can justice be obtained by the Ohio Highway Patrol. Off the road, justice is left to local law enforcement which in most cases is one of the 88 county sheriffs. A requirement to become a law enforcement officer in one of those 88 sheriff’s department is only 695 hours of training. Although several of the departments may require more the basic standard for administering justice is 695 hours. Enough said for that matter.

            In regard to the 88 county sheriffs, there are ups and downs as in some of the southern and eastern counties of Ohio the department runs out of funds before the year ends and justice is reduced to bare bones or none at all. Every year two or three of those elected 88 sheriffs are indicted and convicted of RICO, Hatch Act or improper use of criminal justice funds; justice upon those who are required to bring its citizens justice.

            What does it take to become the head administrator of justice, a sheriff in all of these 88 counties: a high school degree or its equivalent, have been a law enforcement officer 13 pay periods within the four years prior to running for office and 2 years supervisory experience as a sergeant or above?  That’s not to say that by luck some of those 88 do a great job. But who picks up this justice slack for the Ohio Citizens, the Private Investigator.

            Who investigates complex major embezzlement and economic crimes for businesses. Not the FBI, they’re too busy allegedly catching a terrorist. Only the major cities in Ohio have educated and trained law enforcement officers who can bring about justice for the economically wronged. The rest of Ohio’s Citizens must rely on or pay for the services of a private investigator to bring about justice. Intellectual property crimes are also left to the enforcement of private investigators.

            Many domestic and child custody matters now days involve accusations of drug or child abuse. Private investigators are hired to obtain the truth in these allegations thus assisting citizens to obtain justice in said matters.             Probate matters other than finding rightful heirs often lead to a fight over that last dollar on the table. Private investigators attempt to bring justice in probate matters to the rightly deserved. Wrongful incarceration, when law enforcement evades justice, requires in most cases a private investigator to obtain justice for the wrongly incarcerated individual.

            As you can see in Ohio, as in every other state, obtaining justice is not a sole responsibility of the State. The private investigator can assist it citizenry to obtain the justice they desire. And it is justice, and the search therein that provides for a safer and more honest State.