Southern Ohio Justice part 2
Thursday, March 26, 2020
7:48 AM
PORTSMOUTH, Ohio – A former city councilman and practicing defense attorney rumored to be a key player in a sex trafficking ring was detained by police while officials searched his home Wednesday morning
The streets surrounding Michael Mearan's home near the Scioto County Courthouse were blocked by police vehicles and flooded with police personnel Wednesday morning.
Mearan was seen by an Enquirer reporter seated on his front porch while police searched his home. He was later seen driving from the scene. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost was seen with police.
Attempts to reach Mearan were unsuccessful.
Portsmouth Police detectives began looking into Mearan in late 2018, about the same time The Enquirer began reporting on rumors of sex trafficking in this southern Ohio city.
After The Enquirer published the results of its investigation in March, agents with the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation also became involved.
The streets surrounding Michael Mearan's home near the Scioto County Courthouse were blocked by police vehicles and flooded with police personnel on March 25, 2020.
The streets surrounding Michael Mearan's home near the Scioto County Courthouse were blocked by police vehicles and flooded with police personnel on March 25, 2020. (Photo: Liz Dufour / The Enquirer)
The prosecution is now being handled by the state attorney general’s office of special prosecutions Angela Canepa.
Ten different women previously told The Enquirer they had worked as prostitutes for Mearan, with several of the women saying they had traveled to numerous states to have money for sex at the behest of Mearan.
The women also told The Enquirer that Mearan’s operation included some of the most powerful men in Scioto County as customers and participants. One said she had slept with a former police chief for money.
Several women say they were lured into an alleged sex trafficking ring run by a local defense attorney in Portsmouth, Ohio. Cincinnati Enquirer
Three others said they had been approached by Mearan or others to perform sexual favors for now-retired Scioto County Common Pleas Court Judge William T. Marshall in exchange for lighter sentences in their criminal cases.
Marshall was suspended from practicing law after interfering in his daughter’s speeding ticket case. His family later tried to take control of his personal affairs in court, saying he was a severe alcoholic and had gone to work as a judge while drunk.
That has opened an investigation by the Ohio Public Defender’s office into Marshall’s conduct and whether the results in as many as 3,000 criminal cases he oversaw should be reexamined.
Police surround former city councilman Michael Mearan's home in Portsmouth, Ohio, on March 25, 2020.
Police surround former city councilman Michael Mearan's home in Portsmouth, Ohio, on March 25, 2020. (Photo: Liz Dufour / The Enquirer)
The state's investigation reflects what was initially outlined in a sealed federal wiretap affidavit issued as part of a separate Drug Enforcement Administration investigation several years ago.
That document, obtained by The Enquirer in early 2018, includes accounts of Mearan sending women to Florida and other states to have sex for money.
That investigation resulted in eight drug convictions, but Mearan was never charged. The DEA said it had handed any notes on Mearan over to the FBI, and it is not clear what happened to any follow-ups from authorities.
The family of Megan Lancaster, a Portsmouth prostitute who went missing in 2013, has worked for years to get answers about her disappearance, including whether Mearan is connected.
“We hope that it brings answers and justice to all the girls whether he’s trafficked them or had a past with them at all,” Kadie Lancaster, Megan's sister-in-law said. "Of course, we pray to God this brings Megan home.”
